Curious DATS Agent, Negami
by Sonic Rose
Summary: Set in the world of Digimon Savers/Data Squad, an Impmon breaches the barrier into the human world. Instead of being sent back, he's paired up with a college student named Negami. When events require them to enter the digital world for the long haul, they find themselves facing the Digital Demon Lord Beelzemon. (Negami not introduced in Prologue)
1. Prologue

The Digital world is a place of possibilities exceeding human imagining, yet seemingly dependent upon it. Its creation may well be the accumulation of information – data- from the human world spanning back from time immemorial to the present day. If that holds true it should be no surprise then, that a number of creatures that inhabit the digital world derive their forms from a variety of things we humans would take as familial. Everything from animals; cats, dogs and the like, to household objects; such as a candle, or even the forms of gods, angels and demons. The ebb and flow of data throughout the world has woven a tapestry that looks much like our own, a place with hills and valleys, mountains, deserts and the like. Within this digital world, there are some ethereal traces of its synthetic matrix such as the faint markings of a circuit board shimmering in the sky, a pixelated effect which comes over the water now and again, the immaterial interior of what would look like a solid tree or rock and more. Beyond that, there are also times that something insanely mundane in our world seems wholly out of place in the digital world such as a building or sign post jutting out from an otherwise natural looking landscape.

The digital world would not be much at all, however, without something inhabiting it. Digimon, digital monsters, are to be found abundantly. Like files in a computer, they can easily be classed as Data, Virus or Vaccine and from thereon, their maturity determines their form. Among what little else we do know of them is that they are very much sentient creatures capable of independent thought. The nature of digimon themselves varies as much as the many types that inhabit the world, some are prone to fight while others are stoic or passive. There isn't one, however, who's not willing to fight if the need should arise, and fight they have.

Even in the distant past of the Digital world, there was a time when the most highly evolved digimon nearly brought it to ruin. Records of this time do exist; fragmented within the digital world itself, buried in the code that drives digital life, in ancient ruins, and in a few who still remember. Mega Evolution is the final stage for almost all digimon. It is a form many seek, but few find. It is both a blessing and a curse. The power of a single Mega is enough to make anything from a Fresh to Ultimate digimon quake or bow in terror. Many of them are capable of great destruction, and once they ran rampant upon the still-fledgeling world.

A world has rules, however. A world has laws and a foundation to build upon. Yggdrasil is that law which governs it. Yggdrasil is that foundation on which it is built. In its greatest time of need, it called out to the world, and the Twelve who became known as the Royal Knights arose to bring order to the chaos. It was the single greatest war of angel and demon digimon ever seen, but hardly the last struggle it would have to contend with.

A new order had been established, the way of life maintained. Death was never the end for a digimon, it was always a promise of something new. A digimon who's life had ended would find their data reset, reconfigured into an egg, a literal cycle of rebirth, each time ending differently somehow. If they no longer recycled into an egg, their data would be spread to the digital winds and they would join the worlds' pulse waiting to be born again. The only barrier to that was when a vicious digimon would steal the data of another to better themselves, yet even that was still the promise they would live on in some manner of speaking. And it would always be that way until humankind breached the barrier between worlds and suddenly those who had accidentally created, were in touch with their creation. New laws were learned that could possibly tear both worlds apart.

The appearance of Gizumon was a turning point in the history of the Digital World, and the harbinger of true death. A synthetic digimon, artificial, manufactured by Dr. Akihiro Kurata, it was capable of permanently deleting digimon. It appeared along with a bunch of humans in uniforms, exterminating countless digimon. It was that dark day that tipped the scales, and set the hearts of digimon against humans. And so, it set into motion, a series of events.

* * *

A lone digimon traveled through a barren stretch of land stretching from sparse grasslands to an even more desolate mountain range spiking out of the distance. He was a small black devil digimon with a classically spear-like tail and the visage of horns which made him seem more like a jester than a devil. He also had a white face, gloves and a red scarf... he was an Impmon. Not a very remarkable Impmon, but for the fact that he had survived the Gizumon attack only a few days prior. His eyes held a fierce tenacity, a purpose that only he knew, and it was there before him in those mountains if he could make it.

A harsh wind blew at his back and his steps faltered. He cursed under his breath and proceeded forward, with night fast approaching. The desert-like area was growing frigid as the sun faded from view behind the mountains' foreboding spires.

' _Gotta keep going... can't be weak.'_ the digimon thought. He scanned the landscape for shelter, but none was to be found. Sighing, he trudged on, weariness creeping into his steps. Cold and tired, he eventually stumbled over a small rectangular object jutting out of the ground.

"Ouch!" his face slammed against the unforgiving earth. The Impmon shook his head and got back to his feet, looking around for whatever had tripped him. Anger was the first feeling to surface, until he saw what looked like a hatch, partly buried buy the sands. "Nyeeh...?"

The hatch proved to be an overhead access to the interior of a small elevator curiously below ground. Impmon had never seen one, and to him it appeared to be a strange box-like room with shiny flooring, a bunch of buttons, and a strange door. Curious as he was, the idea of coming out of the growing cold was all that he needed to decide to crash in for the night. That, and he lost his balance the way he was looking in and tumbled into the elevator. "Guh!"

 _'Well, better than freezing to death in that wasteland...'_ Impmon thought and inspected his surroundings. Like any kid, his first instinct was to press all the buttons, though the topmost ones were slightly out of reach without standing on the hand rail or getting on his clawed toes. The effect it had, however, was to make various buzzing sounds and dings, the door opened and closed a few times and a curiously calm melody began to play. "Huh...?" The door open once more revealed nothing but a wall of tightly packed dirt and he sighed at his luck. He pressed a few more buttons to amuse himself, but nothing fruitful came of it. In any event, the music didn't seem to have an off switch and he was tired enough that the music soon lulled him to sleep. How he would get out of this box would have to wait for morning.

* * *

Something cold landed on the tip of the young devils' nose. With a small whine, the imp cracked his eyes open, another flake of snow joining a few others in landing on his dark form. He looked up at the ceiling of the elevator, the hatch he'd come through was open and there was no doubt what had happened. "Stupid snow."

He opened the elevator door as if something new would greet him, but there was only the earth. Banging his gloved fist against it, the earth surprisingly gave way, piling on top of him "Auuuhg! Curses...!"

Now stuck partly under earth and fresh snow, he could at least see the incline would lead him back up to the surface. From there, he crawled out of the hole only to discover the land had become even more unforgiving while he slumbered. White covered the ground as far as his eye could see. He pulled his scarf a little tighter around himself and used his special "night of Fire" to try and warm himself, but without any kindling, the blaze went out quickly. His stomach wasn't doing him any favors either as he hadn't eaten in quite some time. There was nothing left for him to do but press forward.

Step by step he trudged forward. He cursed his weakness as he went, stumbling more than he'd like. To his dismay the mountains didn't look any closer. Then again, the mountain before him had three spikes, not seven, right? His vision started to blur and the white landscape grew steadily whiter until a pitch black came over him.

A series of symbols flew before his mind in the dark to the point he wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not. They were digital code, he knew that much. His code? It seemed like it was unraveling. There was a deep misery welling inside of him and yet he wanted nothing more to keep together, to pull the fragmenting code back together. _'...No..._ ' Just when all seemed lost in this digital limbo, there was warmth.

* * *

Before his eyes opened, Impmon was aware of the crackling of a nearby flame. It was warm and welcoming, though it seemed to shift positions as he was coming to. "Uhhhg... what even just..." the strange vision or dream even now was fading from conscious memory.

"Ahh, you're awake? I honestly didn't think you'd make it through for a while there." Came the voice of another digimon. It turned out to be a Candlemon. Like its name suggested, the digimon was in the shape of a candlestick in a golden holder. It was a curious looking digimon given that both the wax part of its body and the flame had faces, with wide red eyes on the candle, and blue ones seen in the flame. And right now, both sets of eyes were fixed on the disoriented imp. "Bet you're hungry."

It quickly dawned on Impmon that he'd been saved, and the Candlemon now offered him food in the form of some baked yams. It was also apparent he was now in a reasonably sized cave and the warmth that had moved around him was the Candlemon. The exhaustion he'd faced should have made him grateful, but instead he was angry. "I didn't ask you to save me or nothin!" he said and swatted a hot baked potato away, burning his hand in the process. ' _Crap._ '

Only one set of eyes went to the fallen potato, then back at Impmon with an unreadable expression. "Well, no, you're right. Still, I saw you laying there in the snow, I thought you were a rock or something until this... this glow started comin' over you. So I thought, 'is that the light of evolution?' but no, I think you were about to reset. But when I got closer, the light faded. So, I couldn't just leave you, right?" It spoke with a slightly high pitched tone that was childlike to the point of androgyny. The candle regained the potato and offered it again after dusting it off.

Impmon yanked it from the candle and gave it a suspicious glare while doing so. His hand was once again in pain from the sudden influx of heat, and he visibly winced in spite of himself. Candlemon waited patiently for its guest to act, and he bit into the potato as recklessly as he'd acquired it. Tears rolled down his cheeks, though whether they were pain or gratitude would have been hard to tell. He continued to eat in silence, his host gathering up a few sticks and starting a proper fire in the meantime.

"You know, if you had evolved, you probably would have been fine in the snow." His waxy companion now offered. "If I'm not mistaken, you Impmon have a chance of becoming IceDevimon."

"Well aren't you a smarty smart... uh... smarty pants?" Impmon snapped back, though he was happy to have a full stomach.

"Hehe! If you must know, I'm something of an expert on Digimon evolution. I've studied the possibilities documented from around the digital world. I once got to visit The Archives." it said with more than a little pride. "I know I'm only a rookie, but one day, I'd like to be... well... if I'm right, a Royal Knight."

"Bah, what's so special about that?" Impmon asked. He now got a look at the interior of the cave, the mouth of which looked out onto the snow field. It was about what you'd expect for a cave, it was round and uneven with stalactites and stalagmites littered around. An area of level floor was cleared in the center of the cave where the fire Candlemon started was now burning brightly with welcomed precious heat.

"What's so special? Well, the Royal Knights are in touch with Yggdrasil and serve him, that's what! They preserve the order of the digital world!" Candlemon smiled proudly, "isn't that great?"

Impmon snorted with disdain, "Protect the digital world? My frozen ass they protect the digital world! Where were they when the Gizumon attacked?!" he grumbled, "A mon has to look out for number one if they wanna' survive!" he trembled with rage at the thought of what he'd been through, something no other digimon could possibly understand, so he thought.

Candlemon frowned and sat down on a rock formation at the edge of the small camp. "Well... actually, I did hear about that. That's kind of why..." it paused, "See, if I was a Knight, then I'd make sure I'd protect everyone I could. The Gizumon aren't invincible. Some digimon managed to fight back you know?"

Impmon was quiet once more, staring down at his big clawed feet. ' _Oh. Not a bad thought... but it still won't bring back..._ ' "Tch... You're a hopeless goodie good aren'tcha?"

The waxy one shrugged and stared down the dark end of the cave where a tunnel led deeper into the mountains. "So, what do you want to be?"

Without hesitation, Impmon grinned widely and replied, "Strong! I wanna' hit Mega level if I can... Nah, strike that, I will be a Mega, the best damn Mega of all! Stronger than any other Mega, nobody's gonna' be able to push me around no more! No one! You wanna' be a Royal Knigt? I'll trample you to pieces when I become a Mega!" and now he laughed with a hollow pride that reverberated throughout the cave.

The patient paraffin companion listened and nodded at that. "Sure. Maybe we can be rivals then? I know what you can become, do you?" Despite the burning effigy which could have indicated a temper, this flame driven digimon seemed quite calm and relaxed in spite of the insults to both its hospitality and seeming threats against it. Truly it was a patient kindness the Impmon clearly did not deserve, but had somehow garnered.

Impmon was taken aback by his hosts' actions. At this point he had expected to have pushed enough buttons that he would have run away, but the candle stayed as though they had grown up together since being freshly hatched. "Uh well I..."

"You could be a Demon Lord. Not just that, one of the Seven." Candlemon went on with his knowing pride. "In fact, the very Mega that runs this territory – Beelzemon." It made a look up at the ceiling of the cave, presumably in the direction of Beelzemon's throne room.

' _Beelzemon... I could actually become that?_ ' "IceDevimon to Beelzemon? Hah... you really think I could be one?"

"Maybe. If you're strong enough. Hey! Can you show me your power?" Candlemon asked with an impish grin of his own. It was full of unabashed curiosity.

"O.. of course I'm strong..." Impmon bluffed. The fire in the center was snuffed out and he used his Summon: Flame to reignite it with explosive results. Candlemon laughed at the scattered twigs as the mini devil took on yet another scratch. He stamped a foot, "Hey! I did what you asked!"

"Ah, ah, so you did." Candlemons' two faces smiled and he regathered what was left of the lumber. "Well, you're in luck then. If you really do want to be stronger, there's no better place than the Spikethorn mountains."

"So, the stories about only tough digimon being here is true?" Impmon asked, settling down to lick his wounds so to speak. It was why he'd come, the rumor that only a strong digimon could live on the mountains meant that maybe, just maybe, he could evolve. If he was only stronger then...

"Yeah."

"Then what's a rookie like you doin' here?" he asked with the same suspicious tone he held a little while ago, though it seemed like they'd been friends forever. Friends? Not a term easy to fall into his vocabulary, but someone to talk to, a companion like this, it just seemed... nice. He couldn't say so out loud, no Impmon worth their salt would admit to having a friend, would they?

"Oh, I'm pretty tough for a rookie. You are too, to have survived in the ice like ya' did. But see, Lord Beelzemon only has three rules for living in his domain, ya' know? Well, maybe ya' don't. You did come to the mountains through the Phantom Plains, and that's the worst way to get here... seriously, the place'll mess with your head and there's no shelter for miles and -"

"Get on with it!" he bellowed annoyed.

"Eheh, sorry... I get sidetracked. So uh, right, the rules? 1. Don't pick a fight with anyone weaker than yourself. (That's why no Champions or Ultimates will hurt us)" he whispered the last part. "2. Don't start a fight unless ya' finish it, and 3. Don't be weak. Other than that? You can do whatever you please. Oh, and anyone breaks a rule? Better hope Lord Beelzemon doesn't find out, they say he punishes anyone who breaks a rule in his domain, and he doesn't care what stage you're in."

Impmon nodded at that. "I want to get stronger." he openly admitted. He considered what to do next, the earnest expression of the Candlemon throwing him off. "Well, I was just gonna' start bustin' heads around here, but you can show me around if ya' want. Not like I got anythin' better to do. So yeah. You're my guide now. Got it?"

"Sure, sure." There was a mocking quality to the Candlemon's tone, the unspoken agreement between them seemed to be set. "This way, let me show you..."

* * *

The Spikethorn mountains were more than they appeared at first. From a distance, they were little more than jagged spires, and when you got to the foot of the mountain, a seemingly impenetrable fortress of sheer cliffs. But there were holes, cracks, and hidden paths into and out of the mountains. Candlemon had lived there long enough to learn a good deal of them. The interior ring of the mountains, however, was nothing like the outside.

From a high up precipice one could look down at a lush and green valley with a beautiful placid lake fed by a waterfall. Pine trees flourished in the valley and it couldn't seem more peaceful. One could see small structures dotting the landscape where digimon probably lived. Most of them were set far apart, but they were definite signs of life. Raising up from the valley was a large rocky dais that contrasted the lush landscape below. It was a shelf where countless battles had been fought. The ground was pitted and scarred with evidence of digimons' attacks with splintered rocks and craters everywhere. Impmon thought he saw a couple fighting in the distance but it was too hard to make out which ones they werem just the barest flashes of yellow and orange with a spark of light here or there. As the eye followed the bowl of the basin up the wall, the mountain started resembling the outside more and more, with its sheer walls, but some roads and paths had been carved or naturally existed between caves. Perhaps the most unnatural accessory to the steepest of these cliffs was a clear glass elevator. It didn't go all the way to the top, but it did lead to another cliff shelf near the middle of the mountains. Impmon was definitely in awe.

A digimon could easily get lost in the mountains, and in silence, Impmon thanked his luck for befriending candlemon. If he had to find his way on his own, he knew that snow field would have been his resting place. The truth of that thought strengthened his resolve to become stronger. He had come here for that reason. If Candlemon tried to press him on why he wanted to be strong, he just claimed he wanted to be so strong that no one would ever be able to beat him. The truth was he was scared, scared of dying. Seeing Gizumon mow down so many digimon _that_ day set that fear deep inside him. ' _I will not be weak._ ' became his mantra. One does not simply become strong over night though.

* * *

It would be weeks before Impmon could even navigate the tunnels that ran through the mountains by himself. It would be months before he knew of all the different Digimon who lived there and who was friendly and who was not. That was something Impmon quickly learned, the etiquette of the mountain digimon. Some said "hello" with their fists or a well aimed fireball, this was mostly the rookies on his level which did so. It was territorial posturing and would have set Impmon's mountain home as little more than a blackened heap of rubble resting under the hook of a ledge but for Candlemon helping him around. As he'd said, Champions wouldn't harm them, though they loved to mock the rookies relentlessly. Ultimates, the few he'd seen however, were serene in their strength, walking abroad in confident strides and hardly noticing anyone below them. It did seem strange to Impmon that Lord Beelzemon - famed for his lust for battle – would rule such a peaceful land. It was a far cry from the crags he initially saw.

Candlemon and Impmon had begun sparring on the rock shelf Impmon observed the first day he'd come to the mountains. It had become a regular thing for them now that Impmon no longer needed to lean on Candlemon for everything. Every digimon trained in their own way, as they had observed an Ogremon pulverizing rocks, a Gesomon running laps around the lake from dusk til dawn and so on. They decided to try in direct combat until they had worn themselves out. Sometimes an Elecmon would join them in a two on one spar, and he was surprisingly tough. He also disappeared quickly when they had finished. It was one of these days, when Impmon and Candlemon were catching their breath, that they caught sight of the Digital Lord.

One of the resident Ultimates they had seen only a handfull of times crossed the rocky shelf beyond the pair. As the two rookies caught their breaths, they noticed he had come alone. It was rare enough to see an ultimate that the sight of this alone could have been noteworthy to the remembrance of this day, but then they noticed an entryway splitting from the side of the mountain.

Metal spike toed boots appeared at the entrance, and as the digimon came into the sunlight they got a look at the Lord of their domain. Beelzemon stood over eight feet tall, humanoid, clad in leather, toting demonic twin pistols, a third eye in the center of his face which was shielded by an imposing purple mask, and short spiky yellow hair trailing out the back. He had a tail that was coated in metal armor. One look at him, and you could tell the pride and power he carried in equal measure.

"... Lord Beelzemon-sama..." Candlemon whispered quietly. Beelzemon's third eye seemed to shift to where the pair were sitting behind a stalagmite. He took no more note of them than that.

The sky overhead was cloudy with a reddish-gold hue, as if signaling a shift in the world where the two digimon faced each other. "You've been practicing?" the Mega asked in a calm, rich tone that carried a weight to it that made Impmon realize just how great the rift was between Rookie and Mega.

"My Master." The ultimate bowed. As one of the more human digimon, he had the appearance of a face painted white with deep black around his eyes and extending downward. His hair was gold and he could have been considered handsome by all rights. Regal in appearance, he had white shining armor trimmed with gold and inlaid with blue gems underneath which his clothing was largely a deep red, but a majestic cape and hat topped off his appearance in a royal purple. He brandished a gilded sword in one hand that seemed alight with fire. He now faced his the Mega, sword at the ready.

A spar had begun between these two, nay, more of a dance. A tune that they had danced to a thousand times as the rock shelf became a battlefield. Without another word a clawed hand jutted forward sharply, narrowly avoiding the tip of a purple wizard's hat. Following a few more similar swings, the clawed hand continued its path straight into a pointed rock formation behind the fleeing target and with a great clash of sound and whirl of dust, the tower of rock collapsed like a game of Jenga. The owner of the claws smiled in satisfaction at his strength and moved with the momentum, grabbing a chunk of rock and hurtling it squarely at the Mystimon, who stood a few yards away having evaded him.

His fiery sword cleaved the rock in two, and the digimon stood silent, facing one another in earnest. One false move, and it could be over for Mistymon. He was only an Ultimate after all. The two sized each other up, but Beelzemon showed no signs of further attack. Mistymon, however, was fully focused to the task at hand. He lightly tested the ground with a foot, a simple lunge would be too predictable and the ground he'd landed on was soft and gravely, bad for traction he desperately needed. A faint attack perhaps? His options weighed, the sword mage lept into the fray, swinging his sword in an underhanded arch that hit the ground and threw dust and gravel everywhere. This was quickly followed with a series of more traditional one-handed lunges he hoped would meet its mark.

The leather clad digi-lord was pleased with the underhanded trick, attempting to blind him, but it didn't quite have the force necessary to carry the dust high enough. He might not be the largest Mega on the planet, but his imposing height was just too great in this case. The Digital Lord was sharp on the uptake and agile, practically dancing out of the way of the sword thrusts. He knew this foe all too well. "You're slipping, Mistymon!" he grumbled. In a blur, he shot forward, grabbing the enemy digimon by the throat and hefted off the ground. The Mistymon, choking, but not gasping or pleading for his life was quickly slammed him into the ground harshly as Beelzemon then drew his guns. "DOUBLE IMPACT!"

Mistymon quickly rolled aside as a few rounds were unloaded into the rocky cliff where his head had been only a moment ago. The two of them continued trading blows for what seemed like hours, with the two rookies staring on in awe. Neither of them gave an inch, but it was clearly a lopsided battle. While the regal mage gave everything he had with every ounce of strength in his being, Beelzemon dodged his attacks and used few movements to counter many. This had to be more than the difference between an Ultimate and a Mega. The Mistymon found himself once again in a barrage of bullets and sought shelter behind one of the large rocks that jutted out of the landscape like clawed fingers.

The gunfire quickly died, and for a moment there was quiet. At first, the noble digimon was unsure of the sudden truce. "It's over, Mistimon." Beelzemon announced with finality. "Better luck next time." He turned his back on the battle mage and headed casually back into the mountainside from where he came.

Bewildered at this turn of events, Mistymon leaned on his sword, happy to catch his breath but wondering why the battle had ceased so. Looking down, he then saw the rookies. 'Ah.' "You were... watching the whole time?" he said in a soft tone, trying to recompose himself.

"That... was... so... COOL!" Candlemon cried when he was finally able to register what happened. If the battle had gone on a moment longer, Beelzemon could easily have shot them both as the Ultimate hid by the same stalagmite they had come to use for thin shelter. "Do you do that all the time? That was freakin' Beelzemon!"

Impmon, for his part, just stared after the Mega long after he disappeared into the cliff side. "I wanna' be that guy..."


	2. Chapter 1 - Night of Fire

Thick gray clouds loomed in the skies over the Spikethorn mountains. Several years had come and gone with the events of the past becoming like a fading dream. Yet time had also seemed to stand still as life became one of routine. Impmon was still Impmon, Candlemon was still Candlemon. The rock shelf was visited regularly for combat and very few evolved to the next stage. It was a wearing thought that they could take so long and still never achieve their goal of evolution. The sky seemed to agree and a gentle rain began to fall over the mountain valley.

"Ah, ah, so quiet today... Eh, Impmon? Want to just stay in and goof off?" Candlemon asked, the pair having taken shelter in a recently abandoned house. It could barely be called a house though, being more of a loose affiliation of wooden beams and sheet metal somehow held together like some poorly stitched together Boltmon. A stronger digimon than they were had once called the shack home, but aside a lingering smell like rotten eggs, the previous tenant was nowhere to be found.

Impmon hopped up on a crooked stool and looked out the window at the rain. He didn't mind another day without practice. Candlemon hated going out when it was wet. He didn't really like sparring practice anyway, finding it much more entertaining watching the better fighters or pulling minor pranks on some of the other rookies.

The constant patter of rain was lulling Impmon to sleep in his seat until the familiar sounds of battle reached his ear, yet... "Neh, we're on the valley edge right?" Impmon mumbled. The shelter was on a small mound of earth surrounded by a few boulders and clumps of weeds and not much else. It was the outskirts of the lush valley, but far enough up the crescent path outlining the valley that it was easy enough to get to the rock shelf for dueling. Still, it was far enough away they shouldn't have been hearing the sounds of combat. No, not combat, this sounded like a war, with screams of agony causing a shiver to run through the devils' spine.

Candlemon stopped, his flame face flickering, casting a strange light in the room. "... I hear it too. Hey, Impmon? What's going on out there? That's not... normal."

" **Dyaaaahhh!** " Impmon poked his head out of the only other window just in time for an Ogremon to fly by and directly into a boulder. Turning his head sharply, he could see a trail of other digimon bleeding and broken further down the valley, their digital codes starting to degrade. Lightning flashed in the distance, and the sound of thunder mixed with a fierce laugh.

"Hah...! And here I thought I might find a challenge, but it appears you're not even fit to be an appetizer!" The glint of metal appeared to Impmon's eyes. They focused on what looked like sharp metal claws jutting out from beneath billowing magenta sleeves belonging to a humanoid digimon. It was a Matadormon standing in the middle of the road. The vampire digimons' face was triangular in nature and seemed like some bizzarre fusion of hair merged to a pointed metal jaw. He was flashy against the landscape with baggy pants garishly printed with some kind of eye-like design on them over brightly colored red fabric. Upon closer inspection, those weren't claws, those were an undisclosed number of swords kept up his sleeves. And even without clearly visible eyes, Impmon could feel the digimon staring in his direction, laughing.

The little devils' face paled at the sight, then went red with indignation, "We're not weak! Strong digimon do live here! Beelzemon's the strongest one of all an' he's gonna' kick your ass for insulting us like that!"

"Oh? Big talk little digimon, would you like to taste my steel?" Matadormon laughed.

" **Grrrr!... I'm still here, you bastard!** " The Ogremon shouted, pulling himself up from the ground, leaning on a spiked club. Ogremon was a large green musclebound demon digimon at the Champion level with silver-white hair and large intimidating tusks.

"Oh? Maybe you are a fitting snack. Come to me!" Matadormon seemed to smile.

"Tyrant's Fist!" Ogremon called out, a blast of dark energy releasing from his fists.

Bladed metal feet clipped away from them as though they were nothing. "Kyahahaha! Is that it? My turn! I won't even waste one of my cherished rapiers on you." Impmon could only watch as Matadormon threw down one of his signature moves, a Bulldog kick that impacted the Ogremon's chest. With a wail of anguish the digimon was reduced to an egg. Then, however, it broke down beyond that, to pure digital code, dancing at the blade tips that acted like fingers for the digital vampire and drawn to its master. It reminded him of how Gizumon had broken down other digimon the day he started his journey for the mountain... and suddenly he was afraid. "Who's next?!"

Growling, a black WereGarurumon appeared. At this point, Candlemon was even risking a few drops of rain to see what was going on. Fist to fist, the Ultimate level digimon postured, "Mine. **KAISER NAIL!** " Striking with its clawed hands, it looked like it might have a chance. They were both Ultimate level digimon after all.

Matadormon's blades blocked the full brunt of the attack. His feet moved as if in a dance, the black Weregarurumon advancing on him with furious claws and kicks. The wolfman digimon was definitely aggressive, and keeping up, but there was something off about this fight. Matadormon hadn't made a single attack against him, and now the two rookies watching were reminded of similar fights between Mistymon and Beelzemon.

"He's gonna lose..." Candlemon said quietly to Impmon, a drop of candle wax running down his forehead like sweat.

Blackweregarurumon let up his assault only for one decisive moment - when the opponents' stature shifted instantly. No longer floating backward parrying the attacks, he rushed forward, impaling the lupine on his many sharp blades. "Bulldog." he called out his attack, and in a single spin, the blades had ripped through the Ultimate and he followed it up, kicking the body away. It had the effect of crashing into and breaking open the little shelter like a digi-egg. And like the Ogremon before him, Matadormon consumed his core, his laugh permeating the air around the two frightened rookies.

* * *

"Strong digimon? I've yet to meet them. Are you hiding? Why don't you come out to play little Imp? Little Candle?" he chuckled. No other digimon approached at this point. A great deal of space was given to the invading Ultimate, and only the rain seemed to answer him. He stood at the opening of the shack, his right hand blades dripping with blood, a mad smirk worming its way into his metal face.

"Now you've done it...!" Candlemon said in a hushed but urgent whisper. There was no more avoiding the rain. It was a well-known fact in the digital world that if a Candlemons' flame were ever snuffed, it would die. Rain this heavy would make it hard for any fire to exist, but staying in the shack didn't seem like much of an option. The rock shelf above had an alcove hidden from the rain, and that was his best hope for survival. He glanced at Impmon, who trembled but still stood defiant. ' _Now you're just being suicidal..._ '

Impmon gulped, sweat beading on his forehead. ' _Not good. Not good..._ ' he thought with great futility. "I like playing aheh... What's the game, old maid? Yahtzee? Jenga?"

Matadormon laughed again, "You really are foolish. Very well. You want a game? How about hide and seek? I'll even give you a head start." his laugh was unnerving, but Impmon nodded slowly. "Ten... Nine..." Impmon grabbed Candlemon's waxy arm and started to run. "Eight..." And as the pair ran by, he took a wild stab in their general direction. A couple blades glanced off the Candlemon's metal base. There was no doubt he was playing with them.

"C'mon..." Impmon ran urgently with his friend, the Matadormon already starting to pursue them. "Hey, no fair! Ya' ain't even finished counting!"

A laugh was all the response he got, and the countdown continued, "Six..." He could only guess that reaching 0 meant he was no longer playing.

* * *

' _I'm going to die here._ ' Impmon thought, running quick as he could, half dragging the candle behind him. Matadormon didn't seem to be moving all that fast, though every time he looked behind, Impmon swore he had somehow gotten closer. The rain was not helping his friends' condition, the flame part being worryingly dim. He was slowing down, but Impmon wouldn't allow him to stop. "Hey, we said we'd evolve together, can't let this joker get us before that, right?" he tried to laugh.

Candlemon, for his part, was too thoughtful to not know where this was heading. The metal base he called feet barely scraped along the stones, his waxy arm hooked around Impon. He could see behind them, flashy as it was, this was a foreign digimon who didn't care about the few rules Spikethorn had. The rain tapered off enough for him to know they'd made it under the rock shelf, but he could feel his core unraveling, code flying before his eyes. A hollow laugh left him "Ah, sorry Impmon, looks like I won't be able..." ' _this light..._ '

"... Zero." Matadormon made a quick advance, blades forward in a deft thrust. A white light blinded the digimon briefly, sending his sword strike aside as the candle's data reconfigured itself in evolution. "Oh, now you've decided to play? Interesting."

Impmon had tripped, letting go of Candlemon, and looking where he was, a wizard digimon stood. "Sorry, looks like I have to save you again Impmon." The wizard held up a staff that looked like it had a small gold egg with sun-like rays coming off it. Digital code still fluttered around him as though still in a state of flux. He was ready to fight, though even the light of evolution hadn't restored his strength. ' _One of us can survive at least... Maybe. I hope._ '

"Hah! This is really rich, a last ditch effort? You can't even hold yourself together... I'll make this quick. THOUSAND ARROW!" gun fire this time turned the attack astray, the wall being peppered with energy attacks launched from his swords, and one that sent the Wizardmon flying back into his friend, injured further now.

"I'll be your opponent." came the low, menacing tone of Lord Beelzemon.

Matadormon backed away from the alcove and gave a minor but mocking bow, his cape billowing in a dizzying way. "Lord Beelzemon, so nice of you to show. I was told only the strongest digimon lived here, but apparently I've been mislead." his tone cordial, his arms slack at his sides with blood clinging to more than one of his swords.

Beelzemon stared him down, smoke rising from the muzzle of his guns. "The ultimates should have been able to handle themselves against you. Attacking champions and rookies, consuming their cores? Unforgivable. "

Except for the rain beating down the stage of their conflict, all was quiet. Matadormon's cool composure dissolved into laughter "You sound like you actually care about these digimon! Why shouldn't the strong consume the weak? Better to become my strength than to return to a weaker form!"

Beelzemon made a disgusted noise. "Like I give a shit about a few dead digimon? Nah. What I care about is the future fights they could have given me, and the challenge you just issued in coming here. Now entertain me!" The click of his guns preparing to fire was enough to start off the main event. Two shots left a broken heap of stone where Matadormon had just been poised.

A flutter of his colorful fabric danced in the air and a shower of rapiers were launched mysteriously from within.

Impmon felt a tightness in his throat and his stomach. He pulled the now evolved Wizardmon deeper into the alcove propping him up on a raised but smooth stone. "H-hey... we made it." He tried to ignore the red stain on his friends' cape.

Wizardmon pulled his wide brimmed hat garnished with a skull decoration down over his eyes, though he was smiling, it was hard to tell under his collar. "The light of evolution... It was... just like that day I saw you." It was just rain streaming down his cheeks, rain, right?

Matadormon was on an entirely different level from Mistymon. He and Beelzemon seemed equally agile as shot after shot whizzed by, deflected by blades or evaded altogether. Impmon had seen Mistymon do the same, but not in such rapid succession. Piles of rubble and boulders flew across the battlefield, sometimes to distract the other, but almost always deflected. The only sign things weren't going the way he'd hoped was that Matadormon stopped laughing after the battle raged for several minutes. Laughter still filled the surrounding area – Beelzemon's laugh.

"I didn't come here for your amusement!" fabric again fluttered in the air as the vampire sharply backed away. But at this point, a shot of darkness claw had rent part of it into tatters, showing off his hand and the blades it held. His illusory powers with the billowy fabrics he wore were losing their effect, if they ever even had one on Beelzemon, but the Demon lord showed hardly a scratch. The only damage he'd sustained was a nick to his cheek he had to have allowed for in order for his claws to get within tearing range of the Ultimate and a few holes in his leather jacket. If there was anything worse, he hid it well, but Matadormons' damage was starting to show.

"I disagree." He smiled, "I haven't had so much fun in ages. You like blood? How about this? DARKNESS CLAW!" His own talons broke into his flesh, the blood on them flying forward into blades made of pure dark energy. They were mere centimeters from giving the triangular faced digimon a haircut he'd never forget.

Matadormon had not counted on a prolonged fight, his strength starting to fade, the level difference becoming clearer with every attack. ' _Energy... I need another core._ ' The dance oriented digimon was backing up against the wall little by little without realizing it. His eyes scanned the landscape for anything he could use.

Beelzemon's third eye was not just for show, helping him anticipate his opponent's moves. He could see his challengers' digital aura diminishing as the battle raged. It had been so large to start with, but now... He was aware of Matadormon's gaze, and his third eye glanced over at the unstable aura of the injured Wizardmon. His code had been corrupted from an earlier attack and would soon be reduced to an egg state. That didn't bother him, but he didn't want to allow the blade master to escape his wrath or possibly recover. He hadn't realized until now that he'd set the digimon staggering back toward the pair. ' _Fine then, if that's how it's going to be..._ '

The moment Matadormon turned to finish off the weakened wizard, a full blast of Double Impact shot through him, not so neatly blowing off one of his arms and piercing through Wizardmon's head. In that stunned moment, Beelzemon descended with his full furry, grabbing the triangular head and slamming him into the stone floor. "Ha ha ha ha!" It was only the beginning of the beat down for the Ultimate, the Mega's foot coming down on his back and ribs, then rubbing his face into the dirty rock shelf slick with rain.

"Wha..." To Impmon's horror, Wizardmon's data shattered and flew apart. No time for last words, just data which shattered and broke apart. ' _No egg. No rebirth. No egg... No rebirth..._ ' "Whi... Wi... W _i_ z **a** rd _m_ o _n_...! My... my... friend!" ' _My only friend... and he..._ ' His tear filled eyes rested on Beelzemon, cruelly laughing over his clearly beaten opponent. The little devil shook with rage, fists clenched together gripping the air where his friend had been. Impmon couldn't stand this... this _injustice_. "Night of **FIRE!** " he let his gathered power fuel the demonic flame. It shot out squarely at the back of Lord Beelzemon.

* * *

It really didn't bother him. Beelzemon paused, not because the impact hurt, but trying to comprehend why a rookie would care to challenge him? Matadormon lay limp under heel, the mega sighing with regret. ' _Fun's over, eh?_ ' yet in turning his three eyed gaze on the Impmon, he found a fire within those eyes he hadn't seen in over a thousand battles. Sure, his digital aura was shit, but those eyes... the fierceness behind them was a completely different level from his relative power.

At this point, Mistymon had arrived at the scene, his attention first drawn to the beaten Matador face down on the ground. His eyes then leveled at Beelzemon and knelt before him respectfully "... Master...?"

"Deal with that." He said, indicating defeated piled of code degrading on the rock floor. "As for you... you dare challenge me? A mere Rookie?"

Impmon stood, averting his gaze in shame a moment, then looking back up at him with a returning fire of indignation. "That was my friend you killed!"

"Friend? What an odd thing to say." the Mega calmly put his guns away. This was the first time Beelzemon had even acknowledged the rookie's existence, but he was not happy. The sweet savor of victory was being soured, and he didn't know why. "Your... _friend_... was excellent bait. He died in service to me, that is enough."

Impmon barely contained his tears, trying to look fierce, yet shaking like a leaf. "You... how could you?!" He pointed a gloved finger in accusation.

Still alive, the vampire digimon turned his darkened gaze to the caped figure towering over him. The scrape of blades across the stone drew the attention only of the Mistymon. It was enough of a distraction, and quick as he could, he got to his feet, stumbling, but still capable, digging his bladed feet in for a leap toward freedom.

"Master!" Mistymon called, drawing his sword, the flames of which crackled and hissed with steam from the rain.

"He no longer concerns me. Kill him if you can." Beelzemon ordered, still staring down the Impmon. "What I did to that Wizardmon was mercy. What I do to you if you persist, will not. Do you still want to fight me?" Impmons' eyes lowered again in shame mixed with an internal anguish. "... Just as I thought. Fight me when you're a worthy foe."

Impmon gritted his teeth, "No... I can't... I can't let this go. Someone's gotta pay... and you... you broke your own rule...!" Energy formed into a dark sphere of fire, every last bit of energy he could spare. Nothing mattered any more. " **Night of Fire!** " Betrayal hurt... this had to hurt because it contained all the pain he felt at the moment, all of it.

"Double Impact." None of it mattered at all in the end. Beelzemon's shots ripped through the Impmon without effort, his data reverting to the form of an egg. All that the attack accomplished was singing the fur collar of his jacket. Beelzemon frowned, victory had been soured today indeed.

A few minutes later, Mistymon returned, bowing low, "I'm sorry Master, the enemy fled. Shall I hunt him down?"

"No." Beelzemon replied. "Just get that out of here." he pointed with one of his guns to a grayish egg with yellow spots. He paused, looking over his shoulder. "Actually, send it to the human world."

"W-What? Master?" he seemed shocked at this decision, though he went to gather up the devil type egg. "But humans..."

He looked up at the sky which was starting to clear. "There's a rumor going around that digimon who go to the human world evolve quickly... I want to see if that's true." ' _I want to see those eyes again._ '

Mistymon bowed low. "As you wish My Lord."

* * *

In the human world in Japan, a young woman with long teal hair sat at a computer desk in a room filled with many more like it. It was a computer lab set up for a college. Each of the units was hooked up to the sometimes faulty internet. Ikkyoku Negami, a part time student studying art in general, was trying to focus on web design. She was doing some last minute coding before calling it a day. Web design seemed so dry to her, but being able to make a dynamic website was important in the modern world, it was just the coding part that bored her to tears. The power flickered for a moment, and she frowned hoping the machine had saved her progress. The project wasn't due til next week, but she wasn't sure she'd have time to work on it later.

Her part time status was financial mostly. Her grades weren't remarkable enough to gain any substantial grants, and she wanted to live off-campus if she could. Not that Yokohama's College of Art & Design was particularly large. And here she thought an art degree would be easy, but it also meant a highly competitive field where few made a big splash in the ocean of others she considered better than herself. In the meantime though, it meant a forty minute commute to her apartment building every day, and that she had to take on extra jobs to try and make ends meet. For now, she worked weekends at a Family carryout and acted as a house maid in the apartment complex she lived in. It was tiring, but it was enough for now.

' _Better head home before the last train leaves._ ' She thought. Negami ran her fingers through long tangled curls of her teal hair and curled some behind one of her ears. Her eyes were purple and her height was on the tall side at 5'7". The student stretched her tired limbs and gathered up her laptop and study notes, putting them into a roomy messenger bag which had Hello Kitty on it. She pulled a thumb drive from the lab computer and shut the machine down before starting to leave. A quick glance at the window revealed it was raining for the third time this week. ' _Hope the rain doesn't mess things up._ '

Eventually she made her way out the door of a V shaped building several stories tall, and stepped down its stairs. At the base, she noticed some round object that wasn't there earlier. It looked like a funny easter egg. It wouldn't surprise her, really. She had more of an appreciation for art from the renaissance than more modern art. What was considered 'modern' art didn't appeal to her most of the time, and she thought a bunch of it was lazy. But here was an egg sitting on the ground, clearly out of place. "So where did you come from? Too late for Easter." She said aloud as if it could hear. She laughed.

Negami knelt down and rubbed the egg, finding it surprisingly warm to the touch. Was it electric? The rain would probably ruin it. ' _I'll find who owns this later._ ' she thought and crammed the egg into her bag after drying it the best she could. She then dashed down the street as fast as she dared so as to not slip on the pavement, and minding the traffic signs as she went. There was a train to catch after all...


	3. Chapter 2 - Digital Accidents Happen

At Yokohama City's Port, the waves lapped at the pier while the rain fell as predicted for that day. A cruise liner sat parallel to a building sitting at the end of an apparent dock. It had a somewhat rounded shape around it with wide open windows at the front, and this was the Yokohama branch of DATS. One of the city's best kept secrets was the existence of the Digital World, parallel to our own, and the people of DATS (the Digital Accident Tactics Squad) were charged with keeping that way.

Inside the D.A.T.S. Command center, alarms were going off. A blond haired girl and a black haired lady both sat at computer desks with digimon resembling chess pieces looking over their shoulders. They were stationed near a large desk belonging to Commander Satsuma Rentaro, who waited for them to finish their initial investigations before saying anything.

The man behind the desk was tall with black hair, black shades, a blue uniform that reeked of authority, and his hands were folded together and he gave off a general air of importance. Around his neck was a white object which could at first be mistaken for a strange collar, but it was in fact a ferret-like digimon known as Kudamon. "What's the situatio, Miss Kurosaki? Miss Shirakawa?"

There was a kind of nautical sensibility to the DATS uniforms these two women wore, with skirts instead of pants while they sat at their computer consoles. One had short blond hair and identified as Megumi Shirakawa, and the other had long black hair and answered to Miki Kurosaki. By some mutual agreement, Miki was the one to respond, "Sir! We've identified a breach in the digital barrier. We believe a digimon may have come through... but the signal is weak at best."

At this point, the blond one spoke, "The digital signal doesn't match anything in our databanks, so we have no way of identifying it at this time, Sir!"

Satsuma folded his hands together and rested his chin on them as he considered his next move. "What will you do Rentaro?" A calm voice issued from his partner.

"An investigation must be launched. Something so sensitive should be looked after by an experienced agent." He finally stood, facing forward dramatically. "Mobilize agents Fujieda and Daimon immediately."

"Eeeh!? But sir! You just said yourself; this is a delicate situation. Why would you send someone so... bombastic?" Kurosaki asked, then accepted some green tea left behind by a turtle digimon who was walking about freely in the center. She meant to indicate Masaru Daimon as the bombastic one, as Yoshino was generally easier to work with, if not outright walk all over.

"I have to agree, sir. If Thomas Norstein weren't busy right now, he would be the better choice..." Miss Shirakawa said with an apparent blush on her face. She put the young genius on a high pedestal and was prone to swooning in his presence.

Satsuma cleared his throat. "I've made my decision. I agree that Norstein has better skills to deal with this, but as our most powerful new recruit currently, Daimon needs the experience more. I'm trusting Miss Fujieda to keep him under control. Now, you have your orders!"

"Yes sir!" The two girls said in unison, their pawnchessmon saluting in twain with them.

* * *

At least the rain had started letting up, with Negami boarded the train home. It was fairly empty for a change, and she set her messenger bag next to her on a seat. She pulled her phone out of one of its pockets, and a few sticks of pocky she'd kept for a snack. ' _I'll figure out who you belong to later_ ' she thought, sliding a hand along the warm egg she'd picked up, still thinking it was a prop. A few drops clung to the windows, but since it was clearing up, the warm hues of evening began piercing through the clouds.

"Mmm... homeward bound, the un-incredible journey." she commented to herself in a soft whisper. "Let's see... just gotta' find out what keeps trying to mess with my site layout..." She said to herself mostly, though she did wonder what was up with the egg. The more she thought about it, the less likely everything about it seemed. She didn't make a habit of keeping up with others' projects, but she didn't think something like it would be made. It had perfect dimensions to it, and no apparent seam, and the warmth...It was too light to be made of stone, too heavy to be hollow, if it had been paper machete, then it would have started dissolving in the little bit of rain that hit it. Resin? Plastic of some kind? Clay? And why just leave it? What could be the source of its heat for that matter? She made a grunt sound and tried focusing on an app she'd opened on her phone. It was about various error codes and common coding problems, especially when trying to integrate graphics into a website. After a few minutes, she gave up trying to focus on homework and slipped the phone back into her bag. ' _Wow, you're so warm to the touch, I hope you don't overheat... or burn up. Maybe this wasn't a good idea._ '

While the teal haired girl started to doze, something had begun to stir within the egg. ' _Warmth... touch... Candle...?_ ' A crack formed along the center of the egg. There was a fleeting sense of joy and then there was darkness.

Unseen by Negami, the egg had hatched into a small round ball with two bumps on its head. It had two round dots for eyes that would be red in the light, but right now, color was a bit of an issue as the first thing it saw in the world was the inside of a messenger bag. That is to say, it saw nothing. Yet it had no hands, only a small mouth with fangs, and somehow a growling stomach. The blob of cute tried moving around inside the bag, but its first attempts to move itself were met with the bouncing of the train along the tracks, and it merely bobbled further into the recesses of the bag, its own egg shells keeping it down now.

It was confused, but now another sense became aware – smell. Negami had some candy stored in the bag. The open box of Pocky called to him.

* * *

The latch of a white door was unlocked, and apartment A-115 was now open. The college student was home, damp from the rain, and yawning from a long day. The apartment was sparsely decorated with a throw mat on the floor, a kotatsu* in the center of the room with a sakura** print comforter, a functional red couch, a combination desk and shelving set against the wall with a space cleared away for her laptop as the main features. Beyond that it did have a few niceties, a potted plant, a couple hanging plants, a picture of some anime character on the wall and a cork board she had some notes and notices hung up like a birthday card and calendar. The kitchen area was only separated from the living room by a divider that acted as the counter, with the remaining space being her bedroom,the bathroom, and a small closet she kept cleaning supplies in. It was comfortable and fairly cheap, and that was really the most important thing.

Her first actions upon setting foot in the place, aside turning on the lights, was to put her bag down and grab her laptop. The fleeting light that pierced the bag roused the newborn digimon. ' _Light! Aw, don't go away, warm!_ ' It tried to go after the retreating hand, but was plunged once again into the darkness.

Negami thought she felt some resistance from the laptop when she pulled it out, but that was probably just a book or something which had fallen over on it, or maybe that egg. Either way, she set it down on the desk and hooked it to the charger.

"Now let's see..." The digimon hidden in her bag soon smelled what was cooking – some kind of soup and fried dumplings. It's true, Negami hadn't cooked them from scratch, but ramen was the food of College champions... and she got a deal on some frozen dumplings in bulk. Now that she thought about it, she could give some to one of her neighbors. "Itadakemasu!"*** she said before her meal.

The purple dumpling in her bag was getting frustrated now, it could smell the food and it really wanted to know what was going on beyond the confines of this cloth world it was born into. In the meantime, it managed to find a milk candy in the bag, it was in a little paper wrapping, but that wouldn't stop it for long. At this point it heard another yawn, as Negami wanted to end the day with a shower, and the sound of foot steps leading away. It couldn't quite comprehend why, but it felt abandoned.

Now, something miraculous happened, the purple blob that was Kiimon was enveloped in the light of evolution. Yet, Negami had just left the room, not seeing the light from her bag, or the now basketball-sized lump that dropped out of it. "Ow!" It was a Yaamon now, an impish looking purple blob with two folded back spikes that made it look like a jesters' hat a bit. Its eyes were now green with distinct whites, and a peach face making it seem more complete. In this new form, it had gained further awareness of self, and the smell of leftovers. "Uwah? Food!"

Negami hadn't finished everything on her plate which was sitting on the center of the kotatsu. And Yaamon had now figured out how to jump. There were a few small dumplings left, and a bit of the soup, and none of it would be there when Negami finished with her shower.

* * *

A reddish-brown haired teen with part of his somewhat long hair pulled into a small pony tail in back stood beside a girl with short red hair, both of them wearing DATS uniforms. Typically they were a dark blue with white boots and trim, though the short haired girl had a pink outfit with white. And yet again, the under-suit for the uniform on the boy was red instead of blue, and furthermore he had the jacket piece open which was more than likely not regulation. Each were issued a belt with a small carry pouch for tools and most importantly, their digivices, though those could also be clipped elsewhere as the boy had his clipped to a lanyard around his neck. He seemed bored as the pair stood outside of the Yokohama College of Art and Design.

"So, I don't see any signs of action around here Yoshi." The boy piped up.

The short haired girl was holding out her digivice as if scanning the area and seemed as annoyed as he was bored, "I know that Masaru, but we were told the signal was too weak to be identified. It could be an egg we're searching for if that's the case."

"Eggs? Did someone say eggs?" A voice came out of the boxy digivice around Masaru's neck. Its' view screen showed an orange dinosaur-like digimon.

"Not those kinds of eggs Agumon." Yoshino scolded, "A Digi-egg."

"Aww..." the dinosaur sounded disappointed.

"I can have mom make you up a bunch of fried eggs later." Masaru promised. Evening had pretty much turned to night at this point, and he was wondering if they could find anything in the dark.

"Lalamon?" Yoshino asked aloud.

A plant digimon resembling a flower with a seedling growing out of its head with souless black dots for eyes and a permanently open mouth had appeared in the view finder of Yoshi's pink digivice. "I'm having a hard time finding traces, but I think it moved... maybe."

Masaru folded his arms behind his head and let his mind wander. Up til now, most of the digimon he'd found were out in the open, fairly obvious. But an Egg sounded like some boring retrieval mission. He tilted his head to one side, but then something caught his attention. "Hey, this ground over here is caved in." A rock could have been there, but it had a rounded shape to it that looked unnatural. A rare stroke of observation for him.

"What? What are you talking about?" she came over to take a look. Kneeling down she could see some water pooled in the dent from earlier, and the outline of a footprint. She reached into her pack and got out her cellphone to take some pictures and send it back to DATS. "Not much to go on, but you might be onto something.. Lalamon?" It seemed she depended on her for analysis.

"I sense traces of digimon... but it's still not very much. I'm sorry Yoshino." the seed creature somehow managed to pout.

"No, this might be enough to go on." She said and relayed the information to DATS.

* * *

Negami finished up her shower, walking back into the living room while brushing out matted teal hair and wearing orange pajamas with a yellow teddy-bear motif. It only took her a moment to see things were out of place. The food dishes were empty and overturned, the laptop was open on the desk, electronics flickered... "What is going on here?"

Her eyes followed part of the line of what had gone down, her messenger bag open, she found flakes of shell inside it and partly spilled on the couch. Either the egg had been a real egg, or she'd broken someone's art project. For the moment, she wasn't sure what to believe as it didn't adhere to any expectations she had. The inside parts of the shell were dry, and there was no evidence of any heating element making either scenario confusing at best, since now the shell fragments were cool to the touch. But there were signs of life. The edge of her kotatsu was bunched up in one part, and there was also the plates. She was quickly coming to think there was an animal of some kind in her house, some impossible animal that had hatched from that egg.

Negami slunk away to the kitchen, keeping a suspicious eye on the table, and grabbed a metal spatula before she approached it again. The little ball of head she sought after though, had changed locations and was watching her from behind a potted plant. ' _So tall..._ ' It wasn't quite sure what to make of the human, but even though it had grown a little, the world seemed scary to him. The Yaamon's mind tried to sift through images it couldn't quite place, but the orange somehow reminded him of a monkey.

The tall girl knelt down on the floor and bent over, slipping the spatula under the quilt. "Okay you, let's see what we've got..." The spatula and sheet went up, and quickly down again "EEWWWW!"

"Gah!" Yaamon reeled from the sudden yell, but she had yet to notice him. What she had noticed, was a steaming pile of impossibly pink poop under her kotatsu! And this was the reason Yaamon wasn't snuggled up in its warmth.

"What kind of animal could have done this? Uhg, not cool, not cool." Negami steeled her resolve and used the spatula to fish out the pink poop. A few minutes of cleaning, and checking around revealed nothing further. Yaamon was now determined to stay hidden, seeing how the big human stomped around angry over just the poop.

But now, the laptop caught her eye. "I must be losing it..." She muttered to herself. "... And that starts with talking to yourself, am I right?" she chuckled and took a seat at the portable computer, maybe that would take her mind off things. A website she'd never seen before was open.

 **What the Japanese Government Doesn't Want you to Know.**

 **[Elvis Lives]**

 **[WcDonalds attacked by Giant Bird, not Dinosaur]**

 **[Trucker shelters monster.]**

 **[What is D.A.T.S. Really about?]**

It looked like some weird conspiracy website, and she would have gone on with her evening, but the WcDonalds' article had her interested, given the large egg she had just been in possession of couldn't have come from a common chicken. She was starting to believe it really had been an egg at least. The Elvis Lives link showed a few blurry photos of what could have been a man in a monkey suit with a pink tutu and holding up a plush teddy and singing into it at a Karaoke lounge. ' _Weird._ ' Then there was the Trucker thing, in it was a very clear picture someone took using a cellphone, it was of a strange gray rabbit thing with claws that was carrying a plate of waffles to a seat next to a trucker who had maroon hair and was wearing a bomber jacket. It didn't seem photoshopped, and she should know. And it wasn't the only one, there were several pictures uploaded by different users at different diners. It was also the same guy in the same jacket. ' _Real monsters?_ '

 **Finally, there was a full on article on DATS.**

 **What is DATS? The acronym is Digital Accident Tactics Squad, but what exactly does that mean? Who are the DATS agents, and what is their goal? Digital Accident? A computer virus isn't an accident, and you just call tech support for that. Why are the police cooperating with DATS, and why are they called onto the scene of what should be pretty straight forward crimes?**

 **We here at Fight Tha Powah© aim to prove that not only is the Japanese government hiding important information from the public, but to identify exactly what it is, and why. Our first theory? Aliens. Everything can eventually be linked to aliens one way or another.**

 **Another theory is that these monsters come from another dimension entirely, parallel to our own. Not only that, but they're Digital! Digital Monsters. See? That's how they get the name DATS! But why are video game sprites suddenly the size of buildings and destroying things? And how are they keeping things secret? Well, it's not that secret if we know about it! And we do. Remember, aliens did this!.. It's totally the aliens.**

Negami sighed. The site almost had her, until it started talking aliens every other sentence. ' _Who writes this stuff?_ ' Still, she looked over at the messenger bag and then her kotatsu, the blanket folded back so the smell could escape, though she'd given it a good shot of air spray too for good measure. ".. Aliens... yeah, no." She got up, determined to find... whatever had been hidden in that egg.

* * *

"So, this is it?" Masaru asked, the two standing outside an apartment complex.

"It should be. Miss Kurosaki says that one of the students at the Art College was seen leaving the area around the time of the breach. This was verified by nearby surveillance cameras and from that, an ID was obtained. She should live in this apartment complex."

"Yoshi! I'm picking up more than one signal." Lalamon spoke up.

"Great! That means I get to fight more than one." Masaru slammed a fist into an open palm, grinning like a looney.

Yoshino rolled her eyes "Actually, we have another agent living here, so it's probably his." she put in.

Immediately, the fiery teen's enthusiasm waned, and the kid stuck his hands in his pockets, looking annoyed. "Why am I here again?"

Yoshino grabbed him by the ear and pulled him along "Because Satsuma wants you to get some experience with the more delicate kinds of missions. So, you just leave all the talking to me."

"Owowowowow...! Hey! I can walk on my own." Masaru grumbled and rubbed his sore ear, though Agumon caught himself snickering.

"It's okay, Boss. We still might have a fight ahead, who knows what could hatch from a Digi-egg?" the orange dino's voice issued from the digivice.

Yoshino's patience seemed endless some days, but this was not one of them. It was getting late, and she wanted to get this over with. Partly, because of a drama that was supposed to air on TV, and she'd forgotten to set her DVR. She sighed, wishing she wasn't bogged down by the walking pair of fists. Seriously, he had no tact and no concept of decorum, yet he'd just been accepted into the team like nothing, and there was nothing she or Thomas could do to rattle him. ' _Teflon_ ' she thought, his brain had to be made of Teflon.

She led him through the halls, following her digimons' directions to the signal until they came to a split in the halls. "Well...?"

"Uh..." The seed digimon stared blankly ahead, which was nothing new. "I'm sorry Yoshi, I can't really tell..." the scrub was confused. It sensed both familiar digimon signatures and unfamiliar. The seedling had an aptitude for sensing the location of other digimon, so it was starting to get distressed over not being able to pinpoint things more accurately. It was like the apartment itself was in a state of digital flux. She'd have to mention this later when they got back to DATS. "I.. I think we should just go to the apartment...? I'm sorry."

* * *

Another sweep of the apartment had been a success. Armed only with a spatula, she found the bounding ball trying to escape into the cleaning closet. How it planned on getting in was still a question she couldn't answer, but then again, for a creature with no legs he seemed to be getting around just fine. She went to smack the hopping head when it suddenly cried out pathetically, and pooped on the floor. How could she harm it after that? She could still yell and complain about the poop, but at least cleaning supplies were close at hand.

Currently though, Negami now sat at one end of the kotatsu with her legs under it and a hot cup of Oolong tea warming her cold hands, with the Yaamon sitting on top of the table blowing on a shallow cup of oolong she'd poured for him. She'd also heated up a small plate of dumplings for him which had quickly disappeared. She was eying the creature with incredulity, even after she'd treated it to a meal just now and very certainly cleaned up after its shit. Now was the time for silence, very, very awkward silence.

"... So..." Negami began, taking a long sip of her tea. "You're not an alien?"

"Nope.I'm Yaamon. I'm a Digimon. What are you supposed to be anyway?" Yaamon replied and sniffed at the tea. He somehow managed to manipulate the wide cup to his mouth and start drinking without problem, well partly, "Ah! Hot!"

"I'm a human, naturally. The name's Negami, Negami Ikkyoku to be exact. And Of course it's hot! Didn't you see the steam?" Negami frowned a little, not sure what to make of it. Then Yaamon stuck out his tongue trying to cool it off, and she started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" It replied indignantly.

"Sorry, it's just, you're so … so cute." She chuckles. "And those spikes make you look like a jester.." the human smiled and reached out, tracing the little curled horn, it was flexible. Yaamon made a face, attempting to not look cute, and failed. Negami cleared her throat. "So, digimon...? Why...? How..? What...? I don't even know where to start with you."

"What do you mean?" Yaamon seemed to have recovered from the burnt tongue, tilting his body like someone would tip their head to one side, it was cute as it was unsettling.

"I'm not sure." She leaned over the table and started scratching his chin. "But if you're going to stay here, you can't just poop under the table, there's a toilet in the bathroom." She mildly scolded. "For that matter, why are you here? You have intelligence... you can talk at least."

"Who said I wanna stay here anyhow?" Yaamon did his best scowl and puffed up his cheeks to look big. Negami watched with indifference at the false bravado. Thinking about it though, the few flashes he saw of his past were starting to fade as he adjusted to his new life. ' _Warmth. I remember warmth._ ' The kotatsu was warm. Negami's touch was warm too. He liked warm things for some reason he could only guess at.

"Is there something you do want?" she asked, relaxing a bit now, and giving him a little space as she stopped petting him. He was soft and squishy like a pillow, but more substantial, it was hard to describe. And what could be called horns had the same give to them.

"Yeah!" He answered without hesitation. "I wanna be strong! his eyes shone now, like she finally hit a topic he liked. 的 wanna' be big and I wanna' be strong! Like, big big and Grrr! And yeah! He bounced on the table top happily reenacting how 'tough' he was going to be. Deep within his mind was the sound of gunfire and he froze, Negamis' laughter bringing him out of it "What's so funny!?

"Sorry! Sorry! Just, the idea of you being big and strong? Maybe in your dreams, or a few years down the road but... as you are now?" She tried to tone down her laughter, but she could see she struck a nerve.

"When I digivolve. I'll be bigger and tougher, you'll see!" he pouted.

"Digivolve? Digimon? You really make no sense." Negami commented idly. "Well, the apartment doesn't let us keep pets, but you're not really... an animal... I think.. So, I feel kind of responsible since I brought you here. I'll let you stay here if want, okay?"

"Hmph... I can take care of myself," he said, still sulking. In spite of everything he'd already consumed, his stomach grumbled again.

"Really? Well, if you're sure about it then I guess you don't need dessert? She asked, at least she'd figured out his stomach was something to aim for.

"Huh? Dessert? Like what?"

The human got up suddenly and headed to the fridge. She pulled out some strawberry mocchi she'd been saving and quickly returned to offer them to the little jester head. "I mean, if you can take care of yourself, then you don't need a place to stay, or any of the food I have, and especially not my desserts. Like the Pocky you ate out of my bag." she set the plate on the table.

Pocky was good. The mocchi smelled good. Yaamon was drooling, and his stomach grumbled again. "uh... and if I do want the pocky?

She shook her head "This is mocchi. It's made with a pounded rice paste and filling, in this case, strawberries.

"Fine. Mocchi. If I want the mocchi?"

"Then you have to stay here with me, at least until I can find out where you belong. That means no pooping on the floor." Which made Yaamon glance at the now dreaded spatula she had on the counter top a few feet away. "And just staying out of trouble, you can do that, right?"

There was some hesitance, then a nod. Then the mocchi on the plate disappeared into the orb's disturbing-when-you-think-about-it-too-hard-anatomy. "WOW!" And this was the first time he'd had something cold he liked "Thank you! ^-^" in the next instance, the ball head jumped at Negami's head, his little horns folding forward to 'hug' her face.

* * *

 _ **AIEEEE!**_ a scream came from within apartment A-115.

Masaru and Yoshino were just about to knock, when the yell issued from the door. Both on the same page, Yoshi nodded to Masaru and the young man quickly made for the door. Negami hadn't locked it, but there was the distinct impression it wouldn't have mattered to him at all, shoulder be damned.

"Aha! I told you there'd be trouble!" he said triumphantly, quickly spotting the in-training stage Digimon face-hugging the squealing human. "Agumon, realize!" he commanded, the dinosaur free from entrapment in the device, while the human then practically ran toward the Yaamon and slammed his fist into the poor creature, knocking him into a wall.

"H-Hey!" As surprised as Negami had been about Yaamons' sudden face hug, the miniature t-rex who was nearly chest high to the human was more than a little shocking.

"Please do not be alarmed!" Yoshino called to the other woman present, holding up her DATS ID and releasing Lalamon, who shut the door behind them. "I am Yoshino Fujieda of DATS. We're here to apprehend the rogue digimon that just attacked you!"

"Attacked me!?" Negami sounded indignant, bracing the floor and getting up. "You just burst into my home!"

A sweatdrop ran down the female agents' face, as she started taking in the situation. Two plates on the kotatsu, two half empty cups of tea, the place was - other than the plant Daimon just knocked over - neat and orderly. She clearly seemed angrier at their intrusion than the purple ball Masaru and Agumon were attempting to catch. "Oh no... Um... Miss Ikkyoku?"

She frowned. "Just Negami, please and... HEY! Watch it!" a little late as Marcus tumbled over the couch on one side and collided with Agumon on the other.

"H-h-Help me!" the bobbing jester head was hopping around the apartment in circles, starting to panic.

"Yaamon, easy! I won't let them hurt you." Negami called to him.

"Yoshi!" the floating seed digimon drew her partner's attention, "Her digi-soul is resonating with the wild digimon!" Marsaru and Agumon didn't hear a thing as they sorted themselves out, but when they did get up, they witnessed a light burst forth from the wild digimon.

Still stricken with fear and a bit out of breath, Impmon was now standing where the twin spiked ball had just been. It was a Rookie already. The peach of its face was white, its green eyes brighter and more brilliant. It had a body now, a richer indigo in color with a shark toothed smiley face on his chest, red gloves and a bandanna to match. He had a spiky tail and clawed toes, and had yet to realize what exactly that meant when-

"Gotcha!" the red and blue clad human and his Digimon called, the twin blockheads each having circled an arm around the imp, getting him into a double-headlock.

"Uh... guys?" Yoshi tried to draw their attention.

"Not so tough now, are you, crazy little imp!? Whatcha' gonna do?" Masaru called in victory with a "Yay, boss!" from the Agumon.

They had Negami's undivided attention, however. She was not amused as she walked over to them in her orange teddy Pjs. She rolled up her sleeves and one hand balled into a fist. "Stop. It. Now. Let go of Yaamon!" and with that, the open hand backhanded Masaru across the face and the fist slammed down on the dinosaur's nose. "Now!"

The digimon was immediately unhanded, "B-boss! Did we do something wrong?" Agumon rubbed its snout.

"What the hell was that?" Masaru rubbed his cheek, truly stunned at this outcome.

Negami knelt down on the floor and pat the small digital devil on the head gently, making sure he was unharmed before pulling Impmon into a hug, "Are you okay, Yaamon?"

' _I... I just got defended... by a human... I really am weak_ ' The hug had him stunned as his sudden evolution, but eventually he gave in and wrapped his arms around the human. ' _Warmth._ ' that thought won out against his nature. "Impmon... I'm Impmon now." He burrowed his face into her Pjs, hiding his tears.

* * *

Kotatsu* - A low table frame that a heavy blanket, quilt or futon is placed over with a tabletop on it. It usually has a heating element built into. Most Japanese housing is not insulated to the same degree as a western domicile and do not have central heating, thus relying primarily on space heating.

Sakura** - Cherry blossom

Itadakemasu*** - A phrase commonly said before a meal. It has no direct translation, but is generally "I humbly receive this food" "I gratefully receive this food" and has been translated as "Let's eat!" in a lot of anime.

Given this takes place in Japan, there will be a number of references to Japanese words or items, though I will try to make a minimum of it. I didn't feel the need to translate Mocchi, since I explained what it is in context. (It is also quite yummy, and not necessarily frozen though!)

I also don't plan on making a big deal of it, but there are some cases I will be using the Japanese names for people/places/digimon/their attacks, and sometimes using the English names. For example; Thomas Norstein. His name is already foreign to Japan, so calling him Touma Norstein seemed unneeded, while Marcus is referred to as Masaru and RICHARD SAMPSON is Rentaro Satsuma. I admit I'll be cherry picking these by my own set of personal biases, but if it needs to be cleared up I'll make a note on that as well.

And for the record, I am using the English evolutionary stages Fresh, In-training [Lesser], Rookie [Child], Champion [Adult], Ultimate [Perfect] and Mega [Ultimate]


	4. Chapter 3 - How I met Your Digimon

It was full on night at this point, that was true, but what struck Rentaro Satsuma as odd was not the digital devil seated ahead and to the left of him. No, he adjusted his reflective, dark sunglasses that nobody should by rights find normal indoors to begin with, and looked over at the teal haired human seated ahead to his right in orange and yellow teddy PJs. He waited in silence, until he couldn't stand it any longer.

"Yoshino Fujeita, can you please explain to me what's going on?" Satsuma had some idea of the situation, and Masaru trying to retreat with Agumon had also entered his field of vision.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Kudamon asked dutifully from Satsuma's shoulder.

"Um, we weren't going anywhere!" Masaru said, freezing in place. His confused but large Agumon put in a quick "Right, Boss!" to affirm their innocence.

"At any rate," Satsuma cleared his throat, "I asked a question."

"Right, sir." Yoshino took a stiff and awkward step forward and took a deep breath. Soon, she had explained the scene they came into, the scream they heard initially, and Masaru's... bravery? And how she pieced together Negami's displeasure at the sudden intrusion.

"I imagine so." Rentaro sat with his hands folded together on the desk, his name plaque proudly displayed before him. He had listened impassively until now and turned his attention to Negami. "So, what is your understanding of this situation? Of Digimon and who or what we are?"

Negami was a little surprised to have center stage to herself for a change. She'd been seated with her arms firmly crossed and a clear scowl set on her features. Hearing him speak though, seemed to have disarmed her somewhat. She took a quick glance at Impmon then faced the shaded commander, speaking in a plain clear voice that wasn't half as venom laced as she thought it would be, "Well, until recently I'd never actually heard of DATS or Digimon, not formally at least. I've seen a few tweets, and the name came up, but I thought it was a game or something... then I brought this strange looking egg home and this guy showed up." She indicated Impmon. "Yoshino said he can't stay in this world without a human partner, is that true?"

Rentaro adjusted his shades and peered at Negami thoughtfully, at least, she thought he was. Kudamon had now caught her eye, even though she'd already seen him speak, "I think it's clear these two share a bond. I don't think sending him back would be satisfactory for her."

Ren nodded and pet his partner's head, "Digimon are susceptible to human emotions. Negative emotions relating to the seven deadly sins in particular have been a driving force in digimon turning violent. It's because of this, digimon cannot be allowed to exist in this world without a partner whos' digisoul is compatible."

"Digisoul? Compatibility? Does this mean he won't turn evil if he has a partner?"

"Digi-soul is what allows a digimon to evolve. Digimon have it within them, but it builds only slowly over time. Humans with strong emotions however, have innate digisoul that can benefit their partner, or can influence the growth of their inner digi-soul." Kudamon was the one to speak, and he had gained the Imps' attention when he did so, "Having a human partner does not guarantee a digimon will be free of evil, but a good bond is hard to corrupt. Without DATS insuring the peace, a digimon must be returned to the digital world."

"What if I don't want a partner?" Impmon scowled and crossed both his arms. The turtle digimon - Kamemon - passed by and offered him a cup of tea, which he refused as if to prove a point, even though he had initially reached for it.

"What makes you think you can live on your own?" Negami's turn to scowl at the imp. The devils' eyes made contact with the human's, defiant and brash, but she saw the fear behind them. "You couldn't handle yourself against Agumon, and how do you expect to get food and shelter here anyway?"

"I- I'll manage, I just will. I'm tough and strong, really I am! Agumon just caught me off guard... that's all." with that he broke eye contact with Negami and grabbed a cup of tea off of Kamemon's tray. It was still hot, the same situation he ran into as Yaamon, he hadn't learned "Hot!"

"So, you want to go back to the digital world, or do you want to stay here Impmon?" Negami brushed a curl of hair behind her ears and sat back. This was a little ridiculous, monsters in the middle of the night, and her in her PJs offering shelter to him? It would be so much easier just to have let the DATS agents take him back or reset him, but... from the moment she picked up that egg, she'd gotten involved, and she wanted to see where this would go.

"Eh?" The imp fanned off his tongue and then went quiet for a few moments. "Do I...?"

"It's simple enough a question, don't you think?" Retaro had pinched the frame of his shades between two fingers, looking cool as he adjusted them, then slicked back his pitch dark hair. "Stay or go? I don't think we'd have a problem sending you back as you are. If you stay you will have to be part of DATS as part of our way of maintaining peace."

"Go... back as I am..." He looked down at his tea and felt a shiver go through his spine. He shook his head vehemently. ' _No, I'm not going back, not yet._ ' There was something that needed to be done still, ' _get more powerful_ '.

"Negami, are you willing to become a DATS agent and take responsibility for Impmon? It won't be easy, and digimon you may have to face can and will be dangerous. It's up to you." Satsuma's hidden gaze seemed piercing.

"Yeah. But there's a few things I need to know." she replied, Satsuma giving her the go ahead, "About the damages to my apartment? And the fact I'm a college student and hold down two jobs... I need to know about hours and pay and most important..."

"Yes?"

She reached over and put a gentle hand on Impmons' shoulder. He glanced at her in curious skepticism. "You _do_ want to come home with me? I won't force you."

The warmth of her touch both comforted and bothered him somehow. His choice was clear really, he was just putting off saying it, hesitating and arguing why he shouldn't trust the human, but it didn't work. Vital data had vanished from his past lifes' memory that could have clued him in onto why he hesitated, or why he didn't want to go back to the digital world, but at last he nodded. "..Yeah. I'll go, if you can make me stronger."

Kudamon nodded, "I'm almost certain it will."

"I'm not so sure about that.." Negami muttered , "I'll do what I can though."

"Then it's settled. Miss Ikkyoku? We should get you a digivice and introduce you to the others... should probably get you a uniform too, now that I think about it." The dark-haired commander commented as if just now thinking about it. The commander went to dismiss the others, but Masaru hesitated, "... Is something on your mind Masaru?"

"Yes." The youth stood there with his eyes fixed solidly on Negami and Impmon, "You, you let these two stay together with a bond this weak?!" his hands were balled into fists, "I'm sure you're a nice person, but that's it! You're being nice! And you..." he indicated Impmon, "you just want power, how is that fair, when Chika and Biyomon have such a strong bond? Just because they aren't DATS, you'll separate them Satsuma? How is that fair!?"

Satsuma's expression was stern as he addressed the ponytailed youth, "That issue has not been resolved at all yet Daimon."

"I know," Masaru frowned, his brows knit together tensely, "Still... I intend to protect Chika's happiness! Hers and Biyomons with these two fists if I have to!" he said, getting into a fighters' stance.

Yoshino's hand grabbed his ear and she dragged him along, complaining the whole way, "We'll be going now, Commander! Sorry to bother you!" she said with a nervousness behind her words and she and Lalamon ushered the brainless teen out of the commanders' office.

Impmon watched the fighter leave and thought about what he said. ' _She's nice, but that's it..._ ' could that make him strong? "Is it too late to pick another partner?" And suddenly Impmon was reminded of the spatula as Negami backhanded him for that comment.

* * *

The RnD lab for DATS was off in one of its own little wing, a pink hued floor tile had been chosen for it. An assortment of computers and test equipment lined the room, tubes of color and other items Negami could only guess at. A few of the monitors displayed seemingly random data, though she was able to guess at the monitor showing the barrier between worlds.

There was a human sitting in front of a console with a brief case to her left side. She was so short, Negami almost hadn't noticed her. She had noticed the digimon standing guard by the case however. It was about four feet tall and holding a wooden kendo sword. Its eyes could be seen as glowing yellow points behind a fencers' mask and armor which had an Asian aesthetic to them. It seemed too big for him, going well past the end of his arms, but his legs and tail were visible, looking much like a purple Agumon, but a bit shorter. Impmon was sizing up the kendo digimon, who was at least a foot taller than him.

Rentaro's imposing figure stood in the center of the room. His partner seemed a bit on edge, and there was a stiffness to the commanders' stance beyond what was normal. He let the woman continue typing until he finally mustered up a cough to draw her attention. "Doctor Gough, the new Agent we spoke about is here for her digivice."

"Really!?" there was so much excitement in the person identified as Dr. Gough who shot up from her seat abruptly. She was truly short as she only stood at 4'10" tall. She had hazel eyes and short curly red hair and seemed cheerful for the moment. She locked eyes immediately with Impmon, still smiling, "Well, well, where's the Japanese woman you're partnered with little one?" Before the devil had time to be insulted she continued, "Oh, I'm so happy a real, proper Japanese woman is finally going to get to try out one of my new Force Link digivices! I've been wondering so much about her... Negami Ikkyoku-chan, what a lovely name!" and finally she looked over at the tall woman standing between Impmon and Rentaro Satsuma. "Excuse me, um... is there a reason you're in pajamas tall-lady-san?"

"T-t-tall lady-san?!" Negami's face flickered through a few emotions, starting at confusion and working well past immediate annoyance, her hands unconsciously curling into fists.

"Little one!?" Impmon scowled, mirroring Negami's pose.

Rentaro rubbed the temples of his forehead, Kudamon putting a paw on his cheek in sympathy. "Dr. Gough, this is Miss Ikkyoku. You are to supply her with one of the new digivices and inform her on its functions. As for her attire, she will be given a DATS uniform which I assume she will want to wear home."

' _So... Tall... not proper... Curly teal hair... not proper! What does she think this is, some kind of anime?_ ' Dr. Gough was staring at Negami now with a distinct frown on her face, completely ignoring the oncoming disdain. Words were hanging in the air, but she hadn't connected any of them. She was too busy obsessing over the strange woman who could not possibly, in her mind, be the person who was supposed to get one of her precious digivices. She had come from the London branch of DATS to study digisoul and upgrade the Datalink Digivices. Yet none of the ones she had prepared had gone to a full-blooded Japanese person, something she found highly suspect given her location. It shouldn't have bothered her, as a researcher and inventor, it should have been fine. But Vanna was an otaku of Japan and Japanese culture, and her brain seemed to lose any reasoning when something didn't match her view of how it should be. This was not how things should be in her head.

Her partner, Kotemon, had more sense though, and sighed deeply. He lifted his kendo sword and smacked Vanna on the head with it. "Vanna-sama, your job? Please?"

".. If you please..." Satsuma's voice was straining to be polite, and mentally counting off the days until she was supposed to go back to London.

"Ah, right..." She straightened her lab coat out and moved to the suitcase. Opening it revealed the experimental digivices. The ones Negami had seen so far were very box-like contraptions with a screen and a raised part on top she assumed now was for collecting this ethereal 'digi-soul' she was said to possess. These, however, had a more rounded top and narrowed bottom. They still had a rectangular screen on them and some semblance of the DATS logo, but they were more refined, and the sensor on top was larger. It looked like it might be able to flip open too. "This is the Force Link Digivice, the 2.0 of the Data Link Digivice. The very most basic functions of a digivice is to channel your digi-soul in order to evolve your partner. Aside that, a digimon can be 'stored' inside of it by digitizing it. This is to conceal them from the public, but that's normal. These digivices are intended to be much more efficient at dispensing DS and therefore have the potential for multiple partner digimon. They may also be capable of processing digisoul to aid in healing, but that's still largely untested. Go on, pick one."

The annoying woman stepped aside and Negami had a much better view of them. The case was lined with a foam that had cutouts where three other devices had been. The remaining ones consisted of a dark teal one with silver trim and blue buttons, a dark purple one with black trim and dark gray buttons and finally a bright pink digivice with white trim and sky blue buttons. She immediately selected the teal one, feeling a brand new wave of disappointment from the critical curly haired woman. The first challenge of the new job, she supposed.

* * *

The DATS break room was large and open with blue carpeting and a circular table with chairs placed around it. It had a few niceties like a fridge and microwave, a couple lockers and a flat screen TV. Scattered around the table were the few remaining DATS agents still on duty and their partner digimon. A green insect digimon with two long feelers and stubby little legs was seated next to a tall but slightly lean man with black hair. He was wearing an official DATS uniform, though it was dyed green instead of the usual blue. The digimon was invested in a popcicle. The man however, was apparently engaged in a game of cards with an even taller man who may even be a bit taller than Satsuma if he were standing up. This person wasn't wearing a uniform at all, having just a dark colored T-shirt and jeans with a brown bomber jacket slung over the back of his chair. His digimon partner was most likely the gray cat-rabbit-dog creature sitting next to him whose' height was about on par with Kotemon, and he was managing his own hand of cards. Also in on the game, was a tall fox-like digimon with some purple sleeves and the human next to it was a young man with messy brown hair down to his shoulders who wore glasses and was also in a uniform, though the jacket part was open. It was a lot of new faces to process.

At least Negami had finally gotten her own uniform, though due to her height being uncommonly tall for a woman, they didn't have any pink uniforms in her size. She saw this as a blessing, wearing a blue under-suit with shorts. It was a male uniform yes, but she didn't care, it fit. Shorts were also very comfortable, she liked that as well. A quick glance at Impmon revealed his interest in the card game, to which she rolled her eyes.

Satsuma stood next to Negami, drawing attention again from the boys, "Excuse me gentlemen, we have a new recruit. Miss-"

"Hey Negami. What are you doing here?" The messy-haired one called with a smile.

"Ravana? What are _you_ doing here? And wait..." she looked over at the digimon. "...I thought you had a dog, this is it?"

Unamused, the yellow fox digimon stared straight at the human and in a monotone voice said simply " **Woof**."

"You two are already acquainted?" Satsuma inquired. The others were now watching the scene with various degrees of interest.

"Yeah, we live in the same building." Negami started, "I clean his and a few other people's apartments once a week." She now took on a coy grin "Aha! So, the footprints I found from that knocked over plant? That was your fox friend, eh?"

"Aheh, yeah. Thanks for not saying anything about that. Her name's Renamon." Ravana replied, a silly smile on his face.

"Thank you for the dumplings." Renamon bowed to Negami in all seriousness. She was the tallest of the rookies present, only a bit shorter than the teal haired woman when you counted the tips of her ears.

"Oh, so that's why he's been asking for my extras!" She said putting two and two together, not noticing how jealous Impmon seemed to be, judging by his posture. He was feeling very left out of the conversation at least, and scrutinized the tall fox with his arms crossed.

Satsuma cleared his throat, "As I was saying, Negami Ikkyoku here is joining DATS as of today. I'm sure she and her Impmon will be a big help to all of you. At the table here are Ravana Ichiro and his Renamon who you've already met" Ravana smiled brightly and gave a mach salute while Renamon bowed her head politely, "Rai Kouki and his Wormmon, and his strangely green uniform."

The Wormmon looked over at Negami, nibbling an ice cream bar and waving with one of his stubby little claw legs. Next to him, a guy with black hair and spiky bangs looked up from his cards, he was the one in the green uniform. "You can call me Raiki, everyone else does. Oh, and careful of that one, he likes his ice cream a little too much."

"And last but not least... Karis Haas and his Gazimon. We're still not sure what keeps happening to his uniforms, but he's reliable enough, despite appearances.

"I told you the first time, the uniforms suck." The lanky man sniped.

"Wait, I think I saw pictures of you on the net... both of you." Negami said, quickly relating the details of the website she came across earlier.

* * *

With Satsuma no longer hovering over her shoulder, Negami took a seat at the table, looking around at the people and the digimon present. Impmon had started eyeing up the competition, being the shortest of the digimon present save for Wormmon. "So... how did you become involved with DATS?" She addressed the only one of them she knew directly.

"Well," Ravana sat back in his chair and laid down his cards. "Nothing big, really. I was at the electronics store late and y' know, just playing on the computer, watching some videos, the usual. Then, just, something made me laugh."

"I was drawn there by his laughter." Renamon says calmly, "I'm still curious as to why, myself."

"What about you?" the messy haired DATS agent asked, still smiling.

Negami scratched her head and smiled awkwardly "I found an egg on campus, thought it was some abandoned art project but... then Impmon showed up." She skipped a few details, about the incident and it seemed Impmon may have been grateful for her leaving out the part about the spatula. She turned to the one not wearing a uniform though. She could tell he was the oldest of them, though she didn't ask his age "... Karis, right?"

"Eyep." he said simply.

"What's your story?" she asked. Everyone seemed to have a day job

A look was exchanged between the dog-bunny and human. There was a mutual understanding between them and Karis cleared his throat, "Not much to tell. Just out driving my truck... Waffles were involved. He hung around after that, just living roadside diner to roadside diner." he shrugged his shoulders. "Kind of surprised that DATS didn't catch up with me right away, but I guess that's the life of a truck driver. I've... also been here the longest." there was a sort of sad resignation to that.

Negami nodded at that, she wasn't sure if Gazimon was cute or ugly, but he did look like something she wanted to pet. He scratched his bunny-nose and looked curiously at Negami, and then back to his hand of cards. "We still playin'?" Nobody at the table said anything and by unspoken agreement, all cards were face down on the table.

Silence filled the air for a moment before the green one's digivice radiated a light and suddenly the wormmon was standing tall on two legs, a very different creature. He had clawed fingers and toes and insect wings. He was some kind of humanoid insect now, though he still carried a Y like mark on his head and two long feelers reminiscent of the wormmon he just was. He went over to a vending machine in the lounge and inserted some yen, gaining him an ice cream sandwich.

"What just happened?" Negami put in, feeling once more out of place.

"He digivolved." Impmon put in, looking at the digivice. ' _Why do I want to evolve so badly?_ ' Wormmon was the only one he thought might be beneath him in the gathering but now... "... so cool"

"Oh yeah, that's Stingmon." Rai said, everyone else seemed to not care about the giant bug in the breakroom. "This is actually how I first saw him. He got into the comic shop I own after hours and I thought he was a burglar."

Stingmon managed, even with his pupiless red eyes, to look indignant "How many baseball bats did you assault me with?"

"Three, but I broke them all." Raiki said almost proudly, "And a few of the shelves too. I guess we both got tired after the third one, and he was just a wormmon after that. While we were catching our breath, I got some ice cream and shared it with him. We've been together ever since."

It was certainly an odd gathering, but there were obvious bonds. Negami was just left wondering about her and Impmon. Masaru's words ' _such a weak bond_ ' came to mind. Stingmons' evolution seemed effortless, but she wasn't even sure she could evolve Impmon into something better. What would he be anyway? The way his ears/horns curled back, she imagined a brightly colored jester and smiled a bit at the thought. ' _Life's about to get a little more exciting..._ '

* * *

Negami finally got back to the apartment with Ravana after one in the morning. Their digital partners were out of sight, neatly stored away in the digivices. They were able to see out of its view screen as if it was a two way web chat, but neither of them were inclined to talk for the moment.

"Hey, ya' know, you can come by whenever you want, not just cleaning days." Ravana said with a carefree smile on his face.

The two stepped into the elevator and buttons were pressed for their respective floors. "Thanks. Nice to know I have a friend at DATS."

"Hey, no problem." He reached into his pocket and retrieved his digivice, "Renamon, Realize."

"Hey! Should you be doing that here?" Negami asked. Part of DATS was keeping the existence of digimon under wraps after all.

"It's late at night, most people have gone to bed." Renamon replied. "He does this all the time, but I've questioned it myself. I'd say he enjoys danger."

"Can I get out?" Impmon chimed in. His face was displayed on the device's squared off screen almost like a webcam with a blue screen behind it.

"When we get to my apartment, yes." Negami replied, the door opening for her floor. "See you at DATS then?" She asked the two left in the elevator.

"Yup. Later Negami! Impmon!" he waved in an exaggerated way until after the door closed while Renamon let a simple nod speak for her.

The elevator behind her, Negami walked toward her apartment, ignoring Impmons' pleas to be let out beforehand. Something didn't seem quite right as she paused in front of the home of another of her cleaning clients. Apartment A-118 was home to Nikobe Nox, another college student who was going into medicine. Their paths had crossed as they often took part of the same train route to their schools. He seemed very lonely to her, but she wasn't sure when he wanted company. Something made her touch the handle of his apartment, ready to knock, even though it was so late. Actually, it wasn't the first time she'd had a sinking feeling in front of this apartment.

"Hey! I really want out, I gotta go Negami.."

"Wha? Okay Impmon." The feeling was leaving, as if Impmons' voice had somehow startled it. ' _That was strange_ ' "Wait, you need to poop? But you're being digitally stored in... How does that even? Never mind, we're almost there." She took another glance at the door to the neighbor apartment and finally finished the trek back to her place. What she didn't see behind her was a deepening shadow cast on the door and the red glow of at least a dozen eyes staring on after her.

* * *

"Realize!" Negami still wasn't quite sure how to hold the device, but it projected Impmon back into the 3D plane of existence easily enough. What was on her mind now was more of what tomorrow would bring. She could quit the carryout job easy enough, but school and her cleaning service couldn't as easily be ignored. For now, she was just 'on call' with DATS and they would have her in for necessary training on the weekends when she had time off. That was the plan for now at least. So, eat, sleep and... well there was Impmon.

"Yes! Free at last!" He said, bounding up on the couch and grinning like the devil he was. "What do we do now?"

"Now? Now we sleep. I would've been headed there hours ago if you hadn't," She yawned, "showed up."

"But I'm not tired." He complained. "... and I'm hungry!"

"I thought you had to poop." She pointed to the bathroom.

"I'm both, okay?" He slid off the couch backward, his left clawed foot hitting the ground first and then the other. He followed where she was pointing and headed off to discover what proper toilet etiquate was.

"You can eat when I get up. Really, you're a pain already, I liked you better as a bobbing head." She said, going into the only other room of interest, her bedroom. It wasn't much bigger than the bathroom, but she was very proud that she had a nice twin size bed to sleep on. It was the main furniture in the room aside a nightstand with a mirror, hairbrush and alarm clock sitting on it. There was also a standing wardrobe and a stair stack style of shelving which held the rest of her stuff like books and knicknacks and a few posters on the wall. And now the DATS uniform joined the other outfits in her wardrobe and she was once again in the pajamas she started in.

A few minutes later, the door creaked open, the outline of the dark digimon taking shape in the relative darkness "Hey... Negami?"

"Yeah?" She replied, already under the covers and hugging her pillow.

"Where do I sleep?" he asked curiously.

She was about to say "the couch" but that didn't seem right. He was little more than the size of a child, and even if he could communicate well, he wasn't even a day old really. She pulled back the covers and patted the bed "Come on, Impmon." A part of her still couldn't believe this day had been real, but the small warm creature beside her sure seemed like it now, and a part of her wanted to nurture and protect him, not understanding that for digimon it was usually the other way around.

* * *

*Otaku - Unhealthy obsession. Typically English speakers associate this with anime and video games more often than not, but it can apply to anybody overly obsessed about something to a severe degree.


	5. Chapter 4 - Good Breakfast, Bad Morning

_Complete darkness filled Impmon's mind as he slept. It was cold and ominous, and he felt as though he was being watched from every angle. It was the impression of a thousand eyes glowing dimly in the vast expanse, red with circular pupils. They were hungry somehow, and he definitely felt fear._

 _'_ W-where am I? _' The rookie gulped, his eyes seeing no more than he did before. After a while, and he wasn't sure how long that was, he could see the dimly glowing eyes more clearly. The clearer they seemed, the smaller he felt; like he was shrinking into a cold abyss._

 _He seemed to have lost his voice, unable to say anything. Was she shaking? He couldn't tell. He couldn't even see his red gloved hands in front of his face. All they did was block the sight of the dull red glow, only for it to seem all that much closer when he took them away. '_ H-help! Please... Someone? _'_

In the waking world, Negami was still asleep herself, though not plagued by the dreams her digital partner was. She pulled Impmon in close and hugged him to her body like he were a precious plush doll.

 _The effect it had on the dreaming imp was that a new light entered his field of vision. He quickly latched onto the glinting gold flame in the darkness. At last, he had a sense of self and space, and the wavering crimson blurs flickered violently like this flame offended them. There was a direction to go now and he swam through the open space, heading for the light. The dark pulse of power which had gripped his dream tried to pull him back into the dark expanse, cold and foreboding, but the light summoned him wordlessly._

 _'_ Hello? _' His eyes had a hard time adjusting to the light, but there was the feeling of warmth he loved so much.'_ Is someone else there? _'_

 _There was no reply, but the darkness was starting to fade to a dull gray. After a while, Impmon found his feet on the ground and he could head solidly toward the ball of light, the last vestiges of those horrible red eyes already fleeing his memory. He blinked his own eyes a few times in the dreamscape, rough stone walls surrounding him appearing as a hollowed out cave. It was gray and bleak, but the shining light continued to captivate him, all fear receding._

 _He felt big somehow. At his feet he saw the light for what it was, a simple candle in a gold holder. It had some kind of digital script written around its rim, but he was compelled to kneel before it mouthing the words "_ Thank you... friend _." before everything around him evaporated into the realm of wakefulness._

* * *

The night passed much more simply for Negami, untouched by the shadow that passed through the walls. Light streaming through the window was the first thing to rouse her. Impmon wasn't beside her when she awoke and her hand patted the place where she saw him last. Was yesterday just some very bizarre dream? She sat and stretched, much as she did every morning, seeing nothing out of place and giving credence to the idea it was all a dream.

A change of clothes later and she was ready to face the day. She was wearing a yellow T-shirt, orange shorts and a long sleeveless orange vest to match. Judging from how bright it was, it'd at least be a nicer day than the previous. She didn't have any classes to attend, though she still had her cleaning gig later in the day.

Stepping into the short stretch that passed for a hall, she was suddenly aware of a few things off. For starters, it was way too bright in her living room to be normal. There was a window door leading to a small terrace outside, but she usually had the curtains drawn. This morning they were open... and so was the door. Which lead to something else off about the day, that the door to the apartment propwer was still closed, but could feel a cool morning breeze wafting in from outside. This was all beside the fact that the cool air was countering the heat from her oven where she could smell food cooking. Now, supposing Impmon was real, he had no reason to do any of this but he wasn't the only one in the apartment.

No, no, there were two digimon in the apartment. Impmon was seated on the divider between the kitchen and living room, and beside him was Renamon who was leaning on the counter. And stepping close enough to look into the kitchen, there was also a young man with messy hair apparently in the process of making breakfast... and he was humming something about Digimon to himself.

"Oh, hey Negami. How do you like your eggs?" he asked in a casual tone as if he had been fully expected. He wasn't in a DATS uniform; opting for a T.M. Revolution shirt and jeans. She could see his digivice clipped to his belt and it was light yellow in color with white trim and deeper yellow for its buttons, and she suddenly remembered leaving her own digivice on the dresser.

"Uhh... What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Makin' breakfast."

Negami inhaled sharply, "...Why are you making breakfast in my apartment?"

He shrugged, "Stove's broke."

Still puzzled and patience waning, she found herself nodding vacantly. "Why is the door to the terrace open?"

"That's how we got in. Well, that and Impmon letting us in." he continued casually. "Yo, you want me to fry up a rolled omelet for ya? I got the rice going and these sausage patties won't cook themselves."

The answer was given so simply, she was trying to register how everything went down, but part of her was failing to grasp the reality. "Wha... but... how did you get on the balcony? Why the balcony? I should be angry you know!"

Impmon stared greedily at some sausage sizzling in a pan, wondering how likely it would be for him to snatch it, or some of the fried omelets he'd already made. To that end, he slipped off the divider and disappeared behind it into the kitchen area.

"Renamon." Ravana said as answer about how they got to the balcony. He wiped his forehead clean of sweat and continued, holding a spatula in hand. "She got us here. We were just, y' know, out?"

Renamon sighed, sensing the human's frustration with the situation and her partner's aloof nature. "It's true, I brought us here, but it wasn't originally for breakfast." Negami just made a hand motion gesturing for her to continue. "Truthfully, I felt _something_ moving through the building last night. I thought it stopped here, but when Impmon answered the door, it seems that I was wrong."

"Yeah." Ravana continued in his lax tone, "It's actually been that way a few nights. She keeps thinking something's up, but we never find anything. She thought using the balconies would help us get around easier without being seen. Either way, I figured while we were here..." And he whacked Impmon's hand with a spatula "No, bad Impmon, you get your fried eggs when everything's ready."

"Hey!" Impmon glared back at him.

At least things made sense now, somewhat. "Okay, okay, so yesterday wasn't a dream..." Negami said, and looked over at the breakfast being made, she had to admit it looked good. "Give me a few minutes, I'll be ready to eat. Renamon, since you're taller, you can get the dishes from the cupboard and set the table, okay?"

"What do I do?" Impmon asked.

"You can... just... just stay out of trouble. You can help Renamon set the table." she said, wondering if he even knew how, but brushing that thought aside quickly. "I really need a minute." she said and headed off to the bathroom. A moment later, there was a yell from said bathroom ," **Impmon, you need to flush when you're done!** " ' _At least he didn't poop on the floor... again._ '

* * *

It was past 8 in the morning, and that meant one thing; (Well, it meant a lot of things really) to a young man with black pointed bangs it meant work. It also meant parking a red and black Honda CB1000R outside of a manga shop. The owner of said bike hopped off of it in a way that suggested this was more than routine for him at this point and was soon wolfing down a skewer of takoyaki* he brought with him. In short order he fiddled with the keys to Nainai Owarai, with what appeared at a glance to be no more than a plush worm clinging to his shoulder. After successfully navigating the lock, he drew up the blinds and flipped switches letting light flood into the corner Manga store.

Rai held out an arm upon reaching the checkout counter and Wormmon crawled off onto it, turning around and staring up at the human with wide eyes. "Too early for ice cream, you know." he said, but produced another spear of takoyaki for the digimons' breakfast."Remember to act like a plush in front of the customers."

Wormmon gave him an irate look somehow, and pointed a stubby claw "How long have we been doing this? I know what to do, just trust me."

Rai patted him on the head, messing with his antennae, "Yeah, yeah. I trust you. It's everyone else I have to worry about." there was a jingle at the door and Rai welcomed in his first customer of the day.

Wormmon finished off his food before the human was near enough to notice, and started a game of human watching as he had for the past few months. He enjoyed watching kids happily leafing through their favorite manga. Sometimes he would pretend to be an animatronic plush and weasel ice cream out of the kids. Exactly what Rai thought of it was unclear, but at least he wasn't going further into debt feeding the digimon's habit. Sometimes, his one employee who knew the truth about digimon would also buy him a treat, so at least he got compensation. It wasn't a drug, of course, but in the digital world he'd never had cold treats like that and he couldn't get enough.

A couple hours passed uneventfully and the cute green bug digimon was curled up asleep. Rai smiled at that and went to restock the shelves with things that had arrived that day. Among them was a manga interpretation of Peter Pan along other Fairy Tale manga and a few others in the fantasy section he put together. The familiar jingle of door bells alerted him to two new customers which he stood at once to greet, "Welcome to Nainai Owari, take a look around and see if there's anything you like!" He looked over at the two who had walked into his shop and relaxed a bit. "Nice to see you Ravana, Ne... Ne..."

"Negami." the teal haired girl said. She was wearing her digivice clipped to a vest pocket while Ravana had his clipped to his belt. Neither were in uniform, which accounted even more for the store owners' relative ease. "Nice to see you again too." She said with a slight bow of her head.

"So, what brings you guys in? Rai asked with a pleasant smile.

"I wanna feed my hobby!" Ravana beamed, his hazel eyes were alight.

"Like you fed your stomach at my place?" Negami retorted. The two had shared a breakfast of rolled omelets stuffed with daikon radish and onions, curry rice and sausage. Despite being invaded, it was a surprisingly pleasant morning. Afterward they had decided to hang out a bit and she was interested in buying something at the shop at least to occupy Impmon while she had to do her normal work.

"Hey, I brought most of the food from my place, and I paid you back for the rest... and you ate as much as Renamon!" he put in before returning his attentions to Mr. Kouki. "Yo. Got that new Star Wars Lego© kit in?" he asked, looking over at a section of the store where model kits and other merchandise was being sold.

Raiki arched a brow, then had memories of unpacking some merchandise the previous morning. "Oh! The upscale Millennium Falcon with lego figured that can sit in the gun turrets?"

"That's the one!"

Negami started looking around on her own while the two guys started chattering about Legos and Yu-Gi-Oh cards. She quickly spotted Wormmon behind the counter, asleep, and a teenage worker with the store logo – a red semi-circle of red with stylized kanji for the store's name with hiragana in finer print on the side - on her shirt and a tag that said "My Name is Suzo Miyabi, How can I help you?"

While she was wondering if the worker knew about digimon, a voice came from the digivice at her chest, "Hey, Neg! Can I get out of here now?"

She unclipped the digivice and turned it so she could look at the device's view screen, Impmon staring back at her. She answered in a hushed tone "You know I can't let you out... if people saw you..." as she was saying that, the clerk looked her way and didn't seem to bat an eyelash "Uhm... I..."

Suzo had dark black hair that hung down listlessly and partly covered one eye, she looked incredibly bored. "If you think that's how it is, you should tell your friend over there... he's lettin' his Renamon out... again." she said and went back to sweeping the floor. "I already know about Wormmon, 'long as you don't break anything I don't care what you do."

"See? Now let me out!" Impmon insisted, louder now, Negami covering the screen with a hand like that could mute him.

"Alright, fine." Negami sighed and held out the device "Impmon, realize." and the ankle-biter was standing triumphantly before her a moment later. "Don't get too full of yourself. Just show me what you want, okay?"

"What I want?"

"Yep, I'm allowing you a 3,700 yen limit, okay?" Negami took his hand and started for the racks of manga ahead of them, fairly sure she was starting to regret her life choices.

* * *

It's hard to think of the inside of a semi as a home, but when you're on the road most of your waking time, it and the road are the only family you've got. Karis had this in mind when he purchased his rig, large, loud and proud. It was definitely a big piece of machinery that seemed to dwarf anything that wasn't on a highway most of the time, but right now it had no trailer connected to it and was parked in a lot. Since he did spend so much time in the truck, the Lonestar had a sleeper cab on the inside. It wasn't much, but there was a folding bed, convertible table and seating, a microwave, trash, even a small fridge and space for some office supplies.

The bed had been put up and a bleary-eyed gray bunny-thing identified as Gazimon was yawning and trying to find the strength to greet the day. Karis was already greeting it with a heated can coffee and tossed a sealed one behind him without checking his partner's spatial awareness. Some flailing and surprisingly nimble claw work and a general lack of swearing lead him to believe his buddy had caught the can properly. ".. Thank you."

"Welcome." Karis was using his free hand now to search his phone for weather reports. The day had started off sunny enough, but clouds were quickly gathering and he always liked knowing what that and the road conditions would be. He stopped briefly to unwrap a flaky pastry after tossing one back to his digimon friend.

Gazimon took a sip of the coffee but then wrinkled his nose at the offering, "No waffles?"

"You'll have to wait til' we get rolling. Looks like there's going to be storms today." Karis set down his food and pulled his deep maroon hair back into a ponytail, then looked back at his friend. The digimon was seated at a seat that was probably part of the bed when unfolded, one leg draped over the other, quite relaxed really. "Ready?"

The digimon adjusted a black collar he wore and smirked, "Waffles are waiting, you have to ask?"

Karis shook his head and started out for the open road. For now, it was clear and the path ahead open and free as he liked it. The pair made a stop on the roadside just at the edge of the city where a hotel offered Western styled breakfasts. It was a regular stop for them, and they soon had their fill of waffles before the open road called to them. Not long after, the only thing around them were gently rolling hills and power lines.

Clouds were starting to close in faster now and lightning flickered on the horizon. Gazimon's ears stood out stiffly and he wrinkled his nose, "I don't like this..."

Karis's eyes shifted briefly, noting his buddy in the passengers' seat actually looking on edge, a second can of coffee clutched in his claws. His main focus now was the road ahead and the first drops of rain coming down. "So, what are we up against?" he asked as if expecting a fight. To him, the sky darkening seemed normal, but he'd learned not to ignore his partners' senses. Lalamon might be more precise in pinpointing a digimons' whereabouts, but Gazimon had a good sense when a strong digimon was around.

"Something big..." He set his coffee in a drink holder, getting ready for whatever it was.

As they were driving along, they could see something in the distance. There was a car parked along the side of the road and he could see the colors of DATS agents. A pink digimon was in the middle of things, but he was pretty sure that wasn't the problem, the first one was a ninja owl throwing shuriken from above them. "Well, looks like Masaru's in trouble... again." Karis stated, not sure he should call this one in... yet.

That changed when a bolt of lightning larger than life shot out of the sky and materialized as a gigantic digimon. It was hard to tell whether he was a beast or a humanoid digimon, having extraordinarily long green hair and wearing some form of beast mask. Yet he was clad in a primal looking armor mixed with leather and oddly colored turquoise fur. He stood at least as tall as the power lines, and the very sight of him caused Karis to bring the rig to a screeching halt.

"This is Karis Haas to DATS, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" he reported over a communicator.

A female voice responded to him, "This is Shirakawa, yes, we are scanning... We're unable to identify the digimon at this time. If you can get close enough, your Force Link Digivice has a digital scanner, it should be able to collect the data we need... Just be careful, the readings we're getting, this could be a Mega level digimon!"

"...Got it." Karis replied and switched off the communicator. He looked over at Gazimon, and a nod of mutual understanding was shared. ' _Well, into the unknown..._ '

* * *

Suzo was dusting off a display in the front of Nainai, paying mild attention to people coming and going in front of the store, it was actually kind of down time for this location, and she liked it that way. Besides, it was busy enough with the DATS recruits looking around. She'd been keeping an eye on Impmon, well, when she could be bothered to wipe the hair away from it. He was still an unknown quantity and hadn't perfected the art of pretending to be a plush toy. Renamon had the good sense to pose with some of the display pieces when people came by, and people often commented how pretty she was. But Impmon had knocked over more displays than he'd participated in so far, and then helping himself to ice cream at Wormmon's request.. That had cost Negami some yen, and most of the allowance she'd given the imp. But Suzo was sensitive to changes in environments, peoples' expressions, the speed of their walk, their posture and more. It made her great security and it told her the Bronze Twins were about to come in.

She strolled back to the counter and opened the door to a room behind it. Wormmon understood and beckoned Impmon to follow. "Hey boss, the twins are about to crash the place." she called

"Those two?" Rai rolled his eyes. Yes, they were good paying customers, but they couldn't go two minutes without fighting over something. He'd threatened to kick them out on more than one occasion, especially when the sister once tugged one of Wormmon's antennae.

"What's going on?" Impmon asked only to get a broom to the face, sweeping him into the back room. "Hey hey!"

"Eh?" Negami looked up from a manga she was reading. "What are you doing?"

"Protocol." Suzo replied, trying her best to look bored behind the counter. She was a pro at that.

Behind the door, Impmon checked out the new environment. It was used mainly for storage, so a number of boxes of product that hadn't been stocked yet stood against the wall. In the center of the room there were a couple long tables and one of them was piled high with boxes of card game materials; mats, sleeves, the cards themselves, etc. The other had some miniature landscape and tiny models on it. It also had some models for … tabletop gaming? That wasn't the only thing in the room, and Wormmon was sitting at a laptop at a desk in the corner, sipping a ramune. "... What's going on?"

"Oh, sorry. The digimon that come here usually hang out in this room when it's really busy." he typed away at the keys with his two pincers, then digivolved to Stingmon for more dexterity. "But the Doushoku twins are an exception. They always cause a stir."

Impmon arched a skeptical brow. "So... we're stuck here?"

"Well, yes and no. If Negami comes digitize you, she can get you out unnoticed. But hey, just look around you... I'm pretty sure we can keep occupied, right?" Stingmon said with a hint of pride. He was checking out the security monitor to see what stage of alert the shop was on. Out front, Negami had been filled in on the situation, and was sticking around mainly to see if the two teens were really that much trouble.

The two teens were probably between 15 and 17 years by Negami's guess. The girl had long black hair drawn into a braid in back and golden streaks in her hair, she had black eyes, glasses and was wearing a gold trimmed black jacket and similar skirt. The boy had short spiked black hair with a patch of silver on the left side and was wearing a black and silver track suit. He was tall and athletically framed, while the girl was more petite.

"... The new releases are over there." Suzo pointed over at a rack near the door.

"Thank you!" The boy waved. At first it was pretty peaceful, they were going over manga that had just released, she was leafing through romance novels, he was sifting through shounen** battle manga, it was pretty average.

Negami stopped paying attention to them, sure this was a false alarm. "So, how often do you come here?" She asked Ravana.

He shrugged "Oh, about once every paycheck." Renamon would have rolled her eyes, but she was left out of the back room and opted to remain hanging on the arm of a cardboard cutout model of a Vocaloid character.

"So, that's where all your money goes?"

"Nah, some of it goes into Vocaloid stuff for my girlfriend. That, and ramen." he said with a goofy grin on his face.

At this point, she did recall seeing a Hatsune Miku keychain in his possession, but they were unprecedentedly popular... so it wasn't that big a surprise. A girlfriend, though? "The way your apartment looks half the time? She's going to get stabbed by Legos..."

"Hey, I just got some containers to keep all the extra pieces in..." he pouted, a bit crestfallen. "But I mean, you'll be by later to clean it up, right?" he gave her a sheepish but hopeful look.

"Yes, yes...but.. now that I know you have a girlfriend..." She gave an impish grin of her own. "I wouldn't mind a little extra money or something. Maybe I could help myself to something in the fridge while I'm there?"

"Really, Negami? You liked my food that much?" he countered, the two of them soon laughing.

Ginryuu was not laughing however. "Sensei? You really have a thing for your homeroom teacher!?" he half growled. "He's an older man! You can't possibly be serious!"

Kiniko slipped back a little, holding a romance manga to her and blushing "Ah... I... I haven't said anything about that bro!"

"But you're thinking it!"

A sweatdrop clung to her face "W-well... you know he's a nice guy... he .. he helped me catch up with my math homework after I was sick that one time, remember?"

And now the teen had very wrong ideas about what extracurricular study was. He got angry and nearly knocked over one of the manga racks. The kid had a pretty solid muscular build and was now pretty pissed off. "Don't tell me he took advantage-"

"No! It's not like that at all! Stop jumping to conclusions!" Kiniko's cheeks were bright red and she thrust her set of manga into her brother, pushing him away before storming out of the store dramatically.

"Kiniko-! Sis!" He paused to take a look at the manga, which was conveniently a fantasy romance about a teacher and student. "Gah! Damnit! I hate Bando-sensei now!" He threw the manga on the floor and stomped on it, starting to leave after his sister.

Raiki cleared his throat and barred the youths' way. "Ahem... you mind paying for that first...?"

"... But I..." Ginryuu tried to pass, but Rai scowled at him all the more. "

You break it, you bought it."

The teen glared a bit at the direction he saw his sister go, but reluctantly went to pay for the manga. ' _I won't let anyone take advantage of my sister..._ '

* * *

Takoyaki* - Fried Octopus, usually several balls of takoyaki are impaled on a skewer.

Shounen** - a classification for product aimed at teenage boys i.e. Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, One Piece. The reverse of this is Shoujo i.e. Sailor Moon, Pretty Cure etc.


	6. Chapter 5 - Who ya' Gonna Call?

"You're... sure you don't want any help?" Karis gave a dubious expression to a blond DATS member clad all in blue. This was the fabled Thomas H. Norstein, boy genius, 16 years old, college graduate at age 13. Something about the mere sight of the smug bastard and his perfect blond hair just pissed off the trucker. Yet, he couldn't help being amused at the current circumstance. Boy genius vs. tire, he and Gazimon were betting on the tire.

"No, I'm sure I've got it." he replied, going through the trunk of Yoshino's car. Apparently they'd gotten a flat getting to the scene where Mercurymon had been. The digimons' appearance in the real world had been brief but impressive. Threats were leveled and a precious digimon was lost in the brief melee. Any sane person would have been terrified of the Mega level digimon. Unfortunately Masaru Daimon wasn't sane, and his insanity seemed to be a communicable disease among his friends.

Gazimon stared at a blue upright husky looking digimon next to the teen, who stood there in a guarding fashion. They'd met before, but it unnerved him how subservient the dog digimon was. Yeah, he was a dog digimon, and yes loyalty is a fair enough trait, but his stoic nature caused it to seem like his devotion ran just a touch too deep to be believable. The gray rabbit-dog shifted his gaze to the broken down car, thinking of exactly how to fix it. For all Thomas' genius, he didn't have the practical experience that theory alone could not provide. He might even have helped, but for the defensive perimeter set by Gaomon.

"I'm certain Master will be able to take care of this." the digimon said. He had a red headband and boxing gloves and was, like Masaru's Agumon, somehow larger than it should have been, at least, Gazimon thought so. He could be mistaken for a dog of some kind, but the big blue furred plush doll? Not so much.

"Eh, if you say so." Gazimon said, happy to turn back to the truck, though out of the corner of his eyes he caught sight of Masaru's little sister Chika. She was still crying over the loss of Biyomon. That was understandable at least.

Karis pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one up while waiting for word on what to do. It didn't seem like there was much given that the threat had already disappeared, but there was the issue of Biyomon and the sobbing girl left behind. Mercurymons' appearance in the human world was short as it was sobering. The Biyomon which had befriended Masarus' sister launched itself at the Mega only to be reduced to an egg. ' _Didn't seem like he was here for an attack, more like he was reclaiming property..._ ' Karis thought. He was close enough to hear the digimon recall the ninja owl he'd spotted approaching the battle site, and commentary on digimon being foolish in protecting humans, but it hadn't really been a fight, per say.

In the end, there was just a broken-harted human child and her idiot brother pissed off in the rain. Karis pulled himself into the driver's seat of his truck with the door open until the comm activated and he heard a voice over it, "-Rentaro Satsuma, please report your status."

"Karis Haas, reporting. The Mega Level digimon known as Mercurymon disappeared with a rookie called Falcomon and... an egg." he reported, a little uncomfortable watching the child.

"Have Masaru and the others begun recall to DATS HQ?" he asked.

"Nah. Everyone's here. Yoshino's car has a flat and boy wonder can't change it." he replied, almost happy about that.

"I need Masaru and Chika to return here at once." Rentaro's voice said firmly. "I hate to impose, but we don't have time to wait for them to fix a tire. Could you bring them here?"

"Yeah, but Chika's not one of your agents, you can't just order people around like that ya' know?"

"There are important matters that need to be discussed, Mrs. Daimon is here with me waiting for the children. Please make all due haste." The voice on the other end belonged to Kudamon.

"Huh, I didn't know DATS was a day care, boss. Still, about that... seems like half your agents are teens, is that really wise?" he asked more as a rhetorical question, though a valid one.

"Honestly, we would have more adults if we could, but it seems digimon are more likely to bond with children. It's a difficult situation, as much as I had hoped we could rely on Biyomon for help, I'm relieved that Chika won't be involved in DATS."

"Roger." Karis replied, "Anyhow, I'll be back at base shortly. Karis out." he switched off the device and approached the others.

* * *

Shortly after, Karis was on the road again with Masaru and his little sister in the cab. Masaru was seated up front next to the trucker, who frowned and wasn't going to lose sleep if any of the smoke from his cigarette wound up blowing in the kids' direction. Chika however, was seated in back with Agumon and Gazimon. The child had stopped crying, but periodically looked over at the bunny-creature while the big orange dinosaur tried and failed to cheer her up.

"Bro, this isn't working..." the dino pouted. He'd been jealous of Biyomon back when he was just a Puwamon and his attempts to console her with funny faces weren't working. Masaru crossed his arms and looked pissed off more than consoling. He did not respond to Agumon.

"If you dare hit anything in this truck..." Karis threatened in all seriousness.

Right now, Chika was occupying one of the seats in the back of the cab, edging away from Agumon and closer to Gazimon at the table. Gazimon for his part, had been drinking another can of coffee. He didn't really desire to be closer with the human child, but he wasn't about to edge away from her either.

A few minutes went by silently while Karis continued smoking, wondering about the motives of the Mega and if it had any connection to the increase in digimon breaching the barrier. Masaru continued looking like he wanted to rant about why the hell there were Mega level digimon and what made _them_ so special? Agumon had almost given up trying to make Chika feel better and clung to the back of Masaru's seat giving him his best impression of a whipped puppy. Chika had finally sidled up to Gazimon and threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his fur, getting out the last of her tears.

"... Ahh... K-Karis..." He put an arm around the child and pat her back mechanically, looking wholly uncomfortable.

"Eh..?" the trucker stole a glance and understood at once, "...just... be patient." He couldn't wait to get back to DATS... there would be much to discuss.

* * *

Negami bemoaned the state of her wallet, noting most of the Yen she had in it was now gone, and her messenger bag was all the heavier for it. She'd bought a couple of shounen manga and way too much ice cream to be healthy. She sighed "Next time I give him a budget, I'm going to make sure he sticks to it.." She muttered. Impmon was back in storage at this point, and a good chunk of the afternoon had been spent at Nainai.

Ravana smiled a bit, holding a door open for her as they entered the apartment building. "Hey, don't sweat it. I bet you could ask DATS for an extra food allowance for Impmon... I think Haas does that. Pretty sure. Maybe?"

"You really think so?" Negami asked doubtfully.

"Worth a shot." Ravana shrugged and the two headed for the elevator. He was weighed down by the Lego and Hatsune Miku items he'd bought. She noticed Renamon didn't ask for anything at the store.

Negami couldn't think of anything to say and the two of them were in the elevator before long. At that point the hazel eyed youth let his partner out of the Digivice. She wondered if that was wise, given they were told repeatedly Digimon were a secret and their existence was supposed to be kept from the public, but it seemed her new friends were determined to play with fire, so she kept her mouth shut on that point. Instead, she chose to acknowledge the digital fox.

Renamon inclined her head in a nod. "I'm sorry if you're uncomfortable with all this. I know the others can be... overwhelming at times."

"Hey..." Ravana pouted, receiving an elbow to the chest in reply.

"Negami," She started in a more serious tone than she'd heard before, "I don't mean to impose, but you have a key card that will let you into the other apartments, right?"

She hesitated, "Well, yes, for my cleaning service."

"Please allow me to follow you then" the digimon implored, bowing respectfully.

Negami glanced over at Ravana for approval or rejection and then smiled awkwardly in Rens' direction. "Follow me? I mean.. I should only go into apartments for the people I'm supposed to clean for... I can't just..."

"You still worried about things, Ren?" Ravana asked his digimon. She nodded lightly. "I don't mind then."

"I think I'm missing something." Negami said, confused as the elevator doors opened for her floor.

"Hey, maybe Impmon could follow me around while Renamon's following you around. I could show him a children's card game and we could have ramen and..." Ravana said in a cheerful way that didn't indicate the slightest bit of concern over whatever the budding situation was.

Negami frowned a little, feeling like the more she hung around Digimon and their partners, the less the world made sense. "...Follow me around. Why?"

"To catch the ghost." he replied. "Or whatever it is that's bothering Ren here. Remember, that's why we showed up in your apartment to begin with?"

He had a point, there was some mention of that made at least. And she wasn't sure about leaving Impmon alone while she did her cleaning runs. "Oh, okay... I'll take Renamon with me, but I want help while I'm working." she said, to which Ren quickly nodded agreement. "And you need to make sure Impmon stays out of trouble." She said, releasing him from the device to continue with Ravana. His smiling expression was somehow not reassuring.

"No problem! Just stop by my apartment when you're done, okay? Okay!"

Impmon gave a quick glance between the two humans, "... Card games...?" And before more could be said, the elevator shut behind him.

Renamon made a flourish of a bow "I am at your service Miss Ikkyoku."

She shook her head "Negami, please. I don't know what you hope to find but... you do windows, right?"

* * *

Electrical mishaps had been happening all over the place since the digimon had appeared in the real world and now, the street lights at the corner of a road that was fortunately fairly clear at the moment were acting up. A couple motorists honked at each other over right of way, but no harm was done, and so the rip in reality which had caused it went unnoticed, disappearing just as quickly.

Partly hidden in an alley, the tear let a very humanoid digimon slip through the cracks. She had the appearance of a very tall and busty human at 6'5", wielding a metal spiked club. She was attired in a tiger striped bikini, cape, gauntlets and greaves – all of which a golden hue. A dragon motif was given to the few bits of armor she wore, including a draymon-like helmet which hid her face from view but allowed her spiky green hair to peek out the back. The metal accents about her hands, knees, feet and head were also gold. She looked very stoic and composed... then her stomach rumbled.

A girl with long black hair drawn into a braid in back, streaked blond, walked by in a hurry mumbling something to herself in an aggravated tone. "... stupid brother... " she muttered "I like Sensei Bando! So what?!" She stamped a foot and pouted a little, but kept moving. "I'll show him...!" It was Kiniko, who'd left the manga store a little while ago, heading home and away from her brother.

' _Eh?_ ' the digimon in the alley caught the girls' brief complaint and forgot about her hunger. ' _Someone standing in the way of love? How horrible! And it's her brother too... My brother likes to keep me from digimon I like. It isn't fair is it? Hmph! It's not! Little human girl has the same problem I do. But, how do you confess your love for someone? Sensei? I wonder if he even notices her... Unrequited love is so dramatic! She should absolutely make sure he knows how she feels no matter what. But what if she doesn't tell him? Or if she's too shy?_ ' "Oh my, I have to help her!" she said aloud, slamming the fat end of the club into the ground and causing a localized tremor. "Oh little girl, I'm going to help you get your love!" She shouted, but she'd taken so long arguing with herself mentally, the girl was nowhere to be seen. "W-wait! You need me!"

The gold-clad digimon frowned, and looked down at a child with pigtails no more than five years old, who caught sight of her and stood there looking like she was about to piss herself. "Hey, kid, did you see where that black haired girl went?" She asked in a surprisingly sweet tone, making the child pause.

"Ahh..."

"It's a matter of love!" she exclaimed. Without a word, the child pointed down the street and the towering woman thanked her and took off. "Wait for me little human! I'll make everything better! No one stops love with me around! Ha ha ha ha!"

* * *

Negami did another check on her supply cart, making sure she had all the cleaning supplies, mop bucket and so on that she needed for her job. She also made sure there was a place under the cart free of equipment enough that Renamon had a place to hide if needed. It wasn't a glamour job, but it was something. "You're really okay with following me around like this Renamon?"

The yellow vixen nodded. "It was my idea to begin with."

"Right... so... a spirit..." she said while tying back her teal hair.

"Something like that. It could be nothing, but I've felt uneasy lately... Has anything unusual happened in the apartments? Some feeling of dread that filled you for no reason?"

"Well.." Negami thought about it and frowned, "something like that? I'm not sure what to make of it really, but it happened to a friend of mine. He's one of my customers actually."

"Oh?" Renamon asked with genuine curiosity, as much as her subdued tones would allow.

"Yeah. You haven't met him yet." She realized that 'yet' was probably going to be 'never' after she said it, but continued anyway, "His name's Nikobe, he lives a few doors down and we both take the same train to our schools." she explained, "Well, I was actually at his place to clean. I just let myself in since he didn't reply, and I heard this voice from the bedroom.. It wasn't his and I went to investigate."

"That could have been very foolish of you." Renamon mildly admonished.

She rolled her eyes, "I know, but I investigated anyhow." the frown grew "Well, it … he... he almost died. His cellphone was nearby so I thought he was talking to someone through it, but it didn't have any recent call history. And I'm sure I heard a voice thanking me."

"So that's how things are." Renamon said, "I'm not really sure if it's related, but I can't dismiss it either. Be sure to point out his place then, I should be able to tell if anything's wrong."

Negami sighed softly. There was a lot she hadn't said, and could only guess how much the digimon had filled in on her own. Still, there was a job to do and nobody's toilets cleaned themselves. "Let's go."

* * *

About an hour later, the two were finishing up another apartment on the list. In terms of layout, they were almost identical with a living area, kitchenette, bathroom, closet and bedroom. Where things were were about the same too, a lot of people had chosen similar layouts for their basic furniture though the philosophies of feng shui were likely a big part of that. A couple of the places had more rooms, and those obviously housed families as sometimes evident by toys scattered across the floor. Negami took a last look around the apartment they were in and did a last little bit of detailing on the kitchen counter before they were ready to move on.

"Thanks for the help, I know this isn't exciting work but..." the human shrugged.

Renamon shook her head and crouched down into the hiding space in the cart. "Not at all. I'm the one who should be sorry, it seems like these feelings I keep having may just be paranoia."

"I don't know about that," Negami replied, brushing her teal hair back again, a few strands of it always came loose no matter how many times she tried tying it back in a ponytail or bun. "a little gut instinct or intuition can be a very useful thing. I haven't known you very long, but you seem very serious, so I don't think you're making things up."

Renamon smiled a little in appreciation, though it was hidden in the shadows. "Thank you, Negami."

She shrugged it off as they approached the next apartment, "You really don't have to thank me. All we've done is clean apartments..." she slipped the card key in and hesitated as something cold seemed to pass through her.

The digital fox's eyes narrowed, the moment the door opened, her body tensed as an overwhelming sense of evil came from within. "We found it." She said in a hushed tone.

"This... this is Nikobe's apartment." Negami hesitated, until the cart she had nearly tipped over, Renamon running into the apartment. She followed Suit, lightly brushing her fingertips over her digivice. ' _I'm think I regret letting Impmon go with Ravana..._ ' A further sense of regret and looming dread filled her on setting foot in the apartment.

The door shut, and Negami wasn't sure if she'd done it herself or not. It was quiet, as if no wind stirred and it was unnaturally dim. Light was still filtering in through the curtained window, but everything was shrouded somehow, like a fog had fallen over the place. She could very plainly feel a presence in the room as sourceless shadows spread and a quick scan of the place shed no light on any kind of struggle. To be honest, nothing really looked out of place. Sound and time seemed to be out of sync with the world with the ticking of a clock on the wall, but nothing stood out beyond that.

"Renamon?" Negami called in a quiet voice. The fox was looking around, her eyes following something on the wall only she seemed aware of. She didn't reply, her body language tense. It unnerved the fresh DATS agent. "...I'm going to see if Nikobe's here." Her eyes did catch a plate of food that had been prepared, a bowl of ramen and yakitori that was cold and apparently abandoned. ' _I really don't like this._ '

She approached the bedroom, but stopped short. There was sound after all, running water. ' _The bathroom, he couldn't... oh please tell me he didn't...!_ ' She flung open the door to the bathroom, the effect of the decisive action seemed to fan away the gloom hanging in the air, if only for a few moments.

Water streamed into the tub from the shower, and in it was a depressed slump of a young man. Matted down by water, very long black hair that might have carried a deep blue sheen in the light obscured his face, but his pale blue-gray eyes carried with them a glazed, distant look. He was fully clothed in the kind of uniform seen at the local pharmacy like he might have been getting ready for work, but the only work he seemed to be ready for was digging a razor blade into his wrist. His gaze was on the blade, as if that was the only thing that existed, and the small pool of blood tinging his sleeve.

"Nikobe! What the hell are you doing?" Negami scowled, her body shaking with a mix of rage and fear.

" _ **Please. Stop Nikobe.**_ " a voice, sourceless, reached her ears, the same she'd heard once before, though it was like it was being strangled through a bad phone connection.

The light which temporarily illuminated the scene now evaporated and an inky blackness rose from Nikobe's shadow. It wasn't human... It was like some black flame which fell upon the wall, dancing in inky bliss. Malice poured from it as its shadow sought to cover the human. It was an unspoken voice saying 'cut without mercy.'

Negami acted in spite of her fears, her hand grabbing the wrist that held the blade and pulling back. The shadow lashed out and spread over her hand, cold like ice yet somehow burning. "Let go of him you … thing!"

At this point Renamon had appeared at the door, witness to the scene. "So, you're the shadow I've been sensing. Reveal yourself whole." There was no point in attacking a shadow, as defined as its darkness was, it still clung flat to the wall and everything it touched, which included Negami.

"R-renamon! I can't let go!" she said a bit panicked. The vixen grabbed her and gave a yank, but nothing happened, it was like she had been glued to Nikobe's arm, and he was somehow made of stone, immobile and impossibly heavy. The shadow seemed to laugh and Renamon let go just before its shadow crept close to her paw hands. Negami shrieked appropriately and Renamon darted back.

"I'm sorry I..."

"Get Ravana and Impmon! Quickly!" She didn't have to ask twice and the fox digimon disappeared. "Hold on Nikobe... it'll be okay. Promise." With her free hand, she had the presence of mind to reach into a pocket and fish out her cellphone. The reception was horribly low, but she managed to dial emergency.

* * *

Impmon was having a much better time of things, or worse in his mind. Ravana had offered him wasabi peas, which were good but hot, and the messy haired youth had started informing him of the rules of Yu-Gi-Oh. Somewhere in the middle of it and reading the cards he was dealt, his eyes had glazed over at the complexity of what was given to him. ' _This is a simple children's card game!?_ ' he thought.

It wasn't so simple... Hit points, face down cards, trap cards, attack cards, this can attack this but not that. That will work but not if this does this... Confusing is an understatement. And there was _math_ involved...! What sadist made this game?! Still, he was not about to admit defeat... for the seventeenth time.

"Wha—What the crap was that!?" Impmon exclaimed in dismay.

"And that was my Oracle of Zefra.. I used it to summon back one of my cards and then I blew away your trap cards and... yeah. It hurts. Maybe you should've used some of your face down cards?"

Soundly defeated, Impmon plopped face down on the card matt, scattering the cards in all direction, and tearing up. "Gaaaah! Not again!"

"H-hey... you did okay, really!" Ravana tried to console him.

Impmon sniffed and tried to not look pathetic as he felt, "Really...?"

"Yeah, I mean, you took down, like, close to 15% of my health this time!" he praised honestly.

Too bad it didn't actually work. The imp scowled and was about to say something when the door to the terrace slid open. "Guys, we have trouble." Renamon said urgently.

* * *

Somehow, while Renamon was away, Negami had managed to get Nikobe to respond a little. The other voice had been calling to him too and the darkness was divided on where it should go. In spite of spreading to almost completely coat the room in pitch black, she had managed to get him out of the tub. The problem was, they were now awkwardly seated, or draped over, the toilet. It would be comedic, if the shadow wasn't painting the world in darkness, to the point the door now seemed miles away from her and her own fears and despair were starting to grip her. That may have been what the shadow wanted as it groped the few places where its darkness did not yet reach.

"Night of Fire!" Impmon's voice shouted and a ball of darkness fueled flame burst in through the door, missing her and Nikobe, and slamming against the wall. On the one hand, it had caused a gap in the dark shadowy flame, but on the other, the shower curtains had just caught fire. There was the hiss of the flames crackling from the water it had passed through, perfectly natural but for the way a few water drops, half evaporated seemed to hang in the air and how they seemed blurred like some sort of digital screen. The moment ended quickly, and the flicker between realities went unnoticed.

"Hey! We don't want to burn the place down!" the voice of a young man called. It was Ravana, quickly trying to find something to stop the blaze.

"Guys! Ahh... that was fast!" Negami called in relief, hope quickly returning to her. Nikobe however, moaned, and appeared in pain as the swirling mass of shadow still remained tethered to him. "This shadow, we need to get rid of it!"

"Agreed." Renamon replied. The shadow kept a distance from the light source created by Impmon's fire, but it still hung on by a thread to the humans' shadow. "Until it's out of the wall we can't hurt it... Impmon, create another fireball, there...!" she indicated the smallest point where Nikobes' body met the edge of the demonic shadow.

"Wha? But if I do..."

Negami shook her head "It's okay, do it fast!"

Impmon created another summoned flame which shot out at the darkness. It connected by Nikobe's ankle, and had to have hit him at least in part, though the human didn't scream or respond to it. It was also where the Shade had connected to him, and _it_ certainly made some unearthly noise, a multitude of red eyes now widening and focusing on the imp. They were the same ones he'd seen in his dream, the dark cold weight that threatened to consume him.

"Oh come on, I just put out the first fire!" Ravana said, having found a fire extinguisher.

"It's okay, it's my turn." an unfamiliar voice to the others came from the tub. The rip reappeared, impossible to ignore. The haze from the fire extinguisher now highlighted the dimensional tear, from which a pink clam creature plopped into the tub with a splash. The pink shell lined with teeth opened up and a somehow cute green blob popped up, "Water pressure!" it cried, and a jet of water removed the flames as quickly as they had tried to spread, as well as soaking Nikobe's pant leg and part of the floor.

The assault had untethered the Shademon. Even if it couldn't talk, all were aware that it was somehow cursing at them. **Death. Kill. Die. Die. Die. Die. Kill yourselves, all of you!**

"Can we hurt it now?" Ravana called, a determined look on his face.

"I'm sure we can." Renamon said, standing outside the overcrowded bathroom. "Kohenkyo!" She shouted, suddenly trading places with the fiery darkness. "Koyousetsu!" almost diamond-like pale leaves of energy flew at the darkness, forcing it back, several of its eyes flinching at the attack.

"Yes! Keep going!" Ravana encouraged, still armed with the fire extinguisher. He followed them into the living room, where his digital partner attempted a more physical assault. Her punch went through it. "Ren, you can't see through its attacks like that!" he said, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Little... busy... fighting here." she replied humorlessly, though Nikobe would probably need a few things. Like a replacement for the discarded lunch she just managed to kick off the table... "Gah...!"

"Hey, I thought the meal was on me, not you!" And though she was going to say something, Ravana felt something moving through him and a light yellow digital aura illuminated his hand. It could mean only one thing, and he held up his digivice, bringing his palm down on it "Digi-soul... Charge!"

"Renamon... Digivolve to... Kyuubimon!" Impmon watched the evolution from the bathroom door, seeing the light envelop the upright vulpine. When the light faded away, his view was obscured by nine tails belonging to a much more massive creature. Now on four legs, her front paw broke the table she'd been standing on, something she immediately regretted, but had no time to apologize for. In this form, the Shademon seemed far less imposing. The ceiling was definitely closer at hand, and she sighed, feeling she might have been better off in her rookie form, but it was too late now.

"You know, we probably should've taken this outside..." Ravana commented.

"... How observant." Kyuubimon's eye twitched. ' _How did I get a partner like this?_ ' she thought.

"Well... it's all you now Renamon!" Ravana called, ignoring her change into Kyuubimon.

The Shademon moved toward the terrace door. It wasn't necessarily trying to escape as it summoned a great deal of malice and pain into its mental attack. **Die, Fall, Die!** If it could get the kitsune to rush it, she might fall out the window, and they were up high enough to be unhealthy to put it mildly.

"Onibidama!" Nine demonic blue fireballs sprouted from Kyuubi's tail and were launched at the malevolent spirit. It had decided it wanted to leave all too late before the flames surrounded and attacked it from all sides. With a shrill and disturbing death scream, it broke down into an egg, much like the one Impmon had been born from. The immediate threat had passed, and Kyuubimon reverted into Renamon.

Way too cheerful, Ravana smiled proudly at Renamon, "Great job Ren!"

"Well... that was... a thing." Renamon sighed, kicking aside the framework of the busted table. "I think we owe the poor guy." As she said so, emergency sirens sounded outside, Negami's call having made it through the static.

* * *

Negami gave Impmon a hug before returning him to the digivice so they wouldn't be seen by the medical team. Ravana had also recalled Renamon and helped Negami get Nikobe over to the couch in his living room at least. He'd fallen unconscious as soon as the Shademon had been defeated, though a weight had been lifted from him.

DATS had been contacted about the egg and the clam digimon, Syakomon. Now that things had quieted, Negami returned to check on him. "Hey lil guy." She pat his outer shell. "It's okay, Nikobe's going to be taken care of... you were calling to him, weren't you?"

The shell didn't open right away, but she heard a meek voice from within "Thank you, Negami."

"Huh? I didn't really do much... Ravana and Renamon got rid of that foul Shademon. Miss Kurosaki said it feeds on despair."

"But you did.. you heard me." the small voice said, sounding a little braver.

"... Last time I heard a voice, but I thought that was the phone. Hey! Why you? Why him?" she asked curiously.

"I feel a connection like I need to be here. Don't you feel that way with Impmon?" Syakomon asked as if it was perfectly natural. "I won't go back to the digital world now, will I?" it sounded a little scared.

"You'll be fine... I bet Nikobe heard you too. I'm sure you can stay when we explain what happened. Okay?" The clam opened up, Negami getting a chance to pet the green gummy creature inside. It was soft and smooth, not slimy like she had expected for which she was grateful. ' _Another weird thing in my life... But at least nobody died._ '

* * *

Notes Section I Swore I Wouldn't Do: Sorry about the delay in getting this chapter out. Thanks much to Nate and Raiki for encouraging me... and for giving me a much better appreciation for Data Squad. Hopefully the next chapter will be out within the next two weeks!


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